Worse than Crucio
by quixotic-hope
Summary: OotP spoilers. Once again Harry finds himself dealing with some kind of torture from Voldemort. However, this is much worse than his previous methods of torture. Continues on into sixth year. Old friends return, and new heroes rise. COMPLETE! Repost from
1. Chapters 1 to 4

**Note: **Okay, this is another one of my old stories that I'm reposting because I want all of my fics under one name. There's no slash, but Severus Snape does play a rather large part later on. It was so hard trying to write this without adding any slash. I even thought for a time that I might rewrite the end and make it slash, but that would take far too much work, as I'm really rather lazy. So this is it.

I'm proud to say that my writing has definitely improved somewhat since I wrote this. I mean, I was in about the eighth grade then, and I'm going into twelfth grade in August…I've grown a little, right?

**Chapter 1: Return to Headquarters**

Harry was back at the Department of Mysteries, more specifically the Death Chamber. Once again he was standing in front of the archway—the veil that Sirius had fallen through. If Harry had just gone and pulled Sirius out of there—

Suddenly the veil began to move, as if someone was standing right behind it, trying to get out. Then four figures immerged slowly. They were all glaring at him as they arranged themselves in a line before him. Harry's stomach squirmed with guilt as he saw the look of hatred and anger on Cedric's face. The same green eyes that Harry had inherited stared back at him, hard and cold. His father had his arms draped protectively on his mother's shoulder. Worst of all was the person standing next to James and Lily. The look of hatred and betrayal in Sirius's eyes as he looked down at Harry was unbearable. As he started to back away, his father's voice called out to him, angry and bitter.

"What were you thinking, saving Peter like that! He sold us out, the lying, traitorous, backstabbing piece of shit. And you let him escape and bring Voldemort back!" Then Lily spoke.

"I gave my life so that you could live. So that you could defeat Voldemort, and all these innocent lives destroyed is all you have to show for it! I should have just let him take you!"

"Let's both take the cup," spat Cedric. "Let's ignore the fact that this is the last chance for whoever-put-your-name-in-the-goblet to kill you. Yeah let's both take the cup, what a great idea! Thanks a lot, Harry!"

Harry's eyes filled with tears as he backed away from the angry voices. As Sirius spoke he froze, his foot accidentally resting on the dais in the middle of the room, making Sirius's voice get even louder than the others.

"I look after you! I break out of Azkaban to protect you from Wormtail. I risk my life to be near you, to help you, to be there for you when you need me. I couldn't have loved you more if you were my own son, and this is the thanks I get? YOU KILL ME!"

"I'm sorry!" Harry whimpered as the figures walked closer. He continued to walk away. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'M SORRY!"

Harry sat bolt upright in bed, drenched in cold sweat, shaking. He pulled on his glasses and looked at the clock on his bedside table. 6:24. Lupin and Tonks were coming at noon to pick him up and bring him back to Order Headquarters. That left him five and a half hours to get over that dream.

Harry had that dream a lot. That was one of the reasons that he had only slept three times during the last week. He'd always have different dreams all too similar to the one he had just had. Sirius hating him; Cedric blaming Harry for his death; his parents reconsidering the sacrifice they had made to save Harry...

Blinking furiously, Harry got out of bed and walked over to his trunk. He had barely unpacked it. He had finished all of his homework within the first few days of break to give himself something to keep his mind off of the huge amount of guilt that had settled over him. He had also cleaned the entire house, the lawn, the shed, his room. His trunk had been repacked almost immediately. Now he dug through the neat stacks of books until he found what he was looking for. He flipped through the pages until he got to the right page...

This was the only picture of his godfather that he had. The one where he was best man at Harry's parent's wedding. All three of them were standing there, laughing and waving. This time Harry couldn't help it was tears rolled silently down his cheeks. They were all so happy, oblivious to the fact that two of them would be dead within the next two years, and that the third would be unjustly confined to a cell in Azkaban for the next twelve years of his life. Not knowing that within the next seventeen years all three of them would die for the same person-famous Harry Potter.

Harry set the picture down on the nightstand and rested his head in his hands. How was he going to survive this? How did they expect him to ignore the gaping emptiness that was taking over the inside of him, like a black hole, letting no light out, concealed to a life of darkness as the star died. Sirius, the dog star, the brightest star in the sky, had died, leaving behind a giant black hole to slowly take over Harry, and he hated it. How was he supposed to ignore all that had happened to him last June, and still find the powers and strength within himself to kill and destroy Voldemort? How?

While Harry sat, trying to find the answers to the impossible questions, not to mention the strength to get up off the floor, the sun had crept silently up higher into the sky. By the time Harry could stand up it was 11:43. he had sat there for five hours, trapped within his own head. He finally threw the last of his belongings into his trunk and slammed it shut. He then carefully tucked the picture of Sirius into his pocket for safekeeping. Then he went downstairs to wait.

Twenty minutes later the doorbell rang and Harry ran to answer it. A small smile crept onto Harry's face at the sight of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks., whose hair was still bubble gum pink. They looked relieved to see Harry as they stepped inside and closed the door behind them.

"Wotcher, Harry," greeted Tonks.

"How are you?" asked Lupin.

"Fine," Harry lied, who didn't see the look of skepticism on the professor's face as he turned to shake hands with Tonks.

"How have the Muggles been treating you?" she asked as Lupin went upstairs to retrieve Harry's trunk.

"Actually, I haven't seen much of them," said Harry truthfully. "I spend most of my time in my room."

"I don't blame you," she sighed as she looked around the downstairs. "I still think it's way too clean. Where are they anyway?"

"Oh, they took Dudley and his gang out for pizza," Harry told her as Lupin appeared at the tops of the stairs.

"At noon?"

"Yeah. Apparently this was a reward for Dudley having lost two hundred pounds."

"Two hundred pounds?" shrieked Tonks incredulously. "How much did he weigh?"

"About the same as a young killer whale," Harry informed her as he turned to Lupin. "So, how're we getting there? I doubt broom since it's broad daylight. Not to mention there's only two of you."

"No, we're using a Portkey, now that we don't have to worry about Fudge arresting us," said Tonks before Lupin could answer.

"Why not?" Harry asked. Lupin laughed.

"Come on, Harry. After all that they did to us over the past year? We practically own them."

"What about the Weasleys and Percy?" Harry asked. "Did they make up?"

"Sort of."

"What do you mean, sort of?" Harry inquired. Lupin sighed.

"Molly, Arthur, Bill, and Charlie forgave him."

"What about the others?"

"They wouldn't hear of it," said Tonks. "Percy's staying at Grimmauld Place. The twins, Ron, and Ginny refuse to speak to him."

"Great," Harry muttered, feeling guilty.

"Oh, look at the time," gasped Tonks. Whether she just happened to look down at her watch or whether it was to change the subject, Harry didn't know, because she continued. "We're late. Harry, grab this-" she held out the book _Quidditch Through the Ages. _"Good. One...two...three...go!"

For the sixth time in his life, Harry felt a tug somewhere around his navel.

**Chapter 2: The Dream**

Harry had to admit, Grimmauld Place was a lot different without Sirius there. It seemed much darker and ominous than it had before. Harry was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the group of people walking towards him. Only when one of the redheads called out his name did he look up. Then he felt his jaw drop.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny he expected. Neville and Luna he had not.

"What are you guys doing here?" Harry asked. He looked at Luna.

"I thought you and your Dad were going to go look for that Snork-Crumpled-whatever it was."

"We were, but Dumbledore wrote and said that he wanted Dad in the Order. Neville's family's here also," she added.

"Really?" asked Harry. Neville nodded.

"Gran and Uncle Algie agreed to take my parent's place in the Order," Neville mumbled.

Not knowing how to respond, Harry just nodded, then turned to Ron. "Are Fred and George at work?"

"Work? No, they're in the Order now too," said Ron darkly.

"What?" gasped Harry.

"Yeah. Mum didn't want them in it, but now that they've left Hogwarts, they can join. I wish we could," Ginny added.

"Are they in a meeting now?" Harry asked, just realizing that Lupin and Tonks had disappeared and left Harry's trunk behind.

"Yeah," muttered Ron. He looked around, then muttered, "Percy's here."

"I know, Lupin told me," said Harry.

"Oh," said Ron. "Look, I don't forgive him for what he said about you, you know, you being unbalanced and all."

"I know, Lupin and Tonks already told me. But I don't want your whole family split up because of me," Harry told him.

"It's not just about you. It's about what they said about Dumbledore too. And Dad," added Ginny. There was an awkward silence, which was broken by Hermione.

"So, why don't we help Harry get his trunk upstairs?" she asked. They all agreed.

As soon as they were upstairs Harry noticed a third bed located in the room he shared with Ron last summer. He turned to Neville.

"Are you staying in here, too?" he asked. Neville nodded.

"And I'm staying with them," Luna informed him, nodding to Ginny and Hermione.

"Cool," said Harry, for a lack of a better word. He sat down on his bed. Luna noticed the dark circles around his eyes.

"Harry, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes," said Harry, a little too quickly. "Why?"

"It just looks like you haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately."

"Gee, wonder why," he muttered sarcastically, then felt bad, realizing she was just trying to help. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," she smiled.

"So, what have you guys been doing?" he asked, anxious for a change of subject.

They quickly informed him of the entire Percy situation. Then that Mr. and Mrs. Diggory had decided to join the Order now as well. Soon Harry found himself growing tired. Then he remembered that he had only gotten about fifteen hours of sleep in the past week. That reminded him of his dream...

He was standing in a dark room, completely alone save one man that was standing in a shadowy corner. Harry stepped cautiously towards the man.

"Hello?" Harry called. The man stirred. "Who are you?" Harry asked. The man turned around to face Harry, who screamed. Over his own shouting he could hear Voldemort scream one word, his wand pointed at Harry's heart.

"Dementomins!"

"Harry! Harry wake up!" someone was shaking him. Harry opened his stinging eyes to look into the concerned face of his best friend.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked him, helping him to his feet. Harry could see the others gathered around, watching him worriedly.

"What happened?" Harry mumbled, wiping cold sweat off his face for the second time that day.

"You were having a nightmare," a trembling Neville told him. "You screamed and then woke up."

"I dreamt about Voldemort," Harry whispered. Neville jumped and Ron winced. The girls remained still, all except—

"Harry-" Hermione began but Harry cut her off.

" I know it's not real. If it was real I would be standing next to Voldemort and he would have just used some kind of curse on me. I'm just saying that's why I—"

Harry stopped. He heard screaming. He was in another room, this time a deep red colored room that reminded him of Gryffindor tower. It was night, he could tell. Orange and black decorations were spread out around the room. A man and a woman were in it. The redheaded woman had a baby in her arms, her green eyes wide and fearful. Then her husband screamed.

"Lily! Take Harry and go. It's Him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off-"

There was the sound of someone stumbling from the room as a door burst open. Lily was running up the stairs, down the hall, last door to the left. The baby's room. Yelling could be heard downstairs. There was a crash, glass breaking, Lily crying—

Ron and the others stared as Harry's eyes filled with tears for some reason unknown to them. He was shutting his eyes, shaking his head with his hands over his ears. It was almost as if he was trying to clear his head of something—

"Not Harry! Please no—take me, kill me instead!"

"Stand aside, you silly girl. Stand aside now." The yelling and pleading continued for another minute, ending with a final shout of "Avada Kedavra!" and a burst of green light—

As the light cleared the scene changed. He was in a graveyard. A graveyard that looked all too familiar—

"KILL THE SPARE!"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Cedric was lying on the ground, a shocked expression on his face. The face suddenly turned into Sirius's, who was falling through an archway, behind the veil, just hit by Bellatrix Lestrange's curse—

"Harry!" screamed Hermione. "Can you hear me?"

As Harry's eyes snapped open tears began to pour down his face.

"Did you hear that?" he gasped. "See it?" he inquired, earning more bewildered stares. Barely a minute had passed since Sirius had fallen through the veil when the whole sequence started all over again, the same as before. Except, Harry realized, he could see both worlds: the real world and the world in his head. He could also talk.

"Help," he sobbed, slowly sinking to his knees.

"Harry, what—"

"Make it go away!" he cried.

"Dumbledore." They all agreed. Harry leapt up and tore down the stairs, his mother's voice screaming in his ears.

**Chapter 3: Dementomins**

As soon as they reached the room the meeting was held in Harry slammed himself into the door. he was determined to make as much noise as possible, both to get Dumbledore's attention and to block "KILL THE SPARE!" from his ears.

"PROFESSOR!" Harry yelled as Cedric's blank eyes flashed in front of his face. He pounded on the door as hard as he could, tears streaming down his face as he watched Sirius die again.

"Dumbledore!" Harry shouted as loud as he could as the others pounded on the door. Harry tried to keep his voice steady, but as he was half crying that was impossible. The door opened just as Lily died for the seventh time.

"Harry," said a shocked Dumbledore as the room behind him went deathly quiet. "What the—"

"What did he do to me?" Harry screamed, grabbing onto Dumbledore's arm for support as he lost his balance at seeing Sirius die again.

"Harry? What happened?" asked a very concerned Dumbledore.

"I don't know!" Harry screamed over his sobbing mother. "I dreamt Voldemort put a curse on me and then, this!"

The tears continued to spill freely from Harry's eyes, the owner in far too much pain to even bother to act tough in front of the entire order. He sank onto the floor. Dumbledore lowered himself to Harry's level as he gazed in shocked at Harry, who was rocking back and forth with his arms around his knees as though he was a very small child.

"Harry, what's wrong?" he asked urgently as everyone watched, awaiting the answer. Harry just shook his head. "Harry!"

"Sirius!" Harry whimpered. Dumbledore turned to Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna, who, like everyone else, stared helplessly at Harry.

"What happened?" They shrugged.

"We were talking and he fell asleep. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days. Then he woke up screaming about You-Know-Who and started freaking out," Ginny told them quietly.

"He said he was seeing and hearing things," Hermione whispered.

All color left Snape's face as he got up and walked over to Harry. The concern on his face shocked everyone more than anything else had.

"Potter, did you hear the curse that the Dark Lord used in your dream?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, what was it?" he demanded, sounding more like his usual self.

"A mix between dementor and Legilimens," Harry mumbled through his tears. Snape closed his eyes, took a deep breath, opened them, and turned to Dumbledore.

"Just what I feared. He has been hit with Dementomins, the only curse that can be cast upon someone without the person actually being present. It is indeed a mixture between dementor and Legilimency."

"What does it do?" All eyes were on Snape, who seemed not to want to answer.

"It goes through your mind and seeks out the worst memories of your life and forces you to watch them over and over again," he answered simply.

"What's the counter curse?" asked Lupin, who had gone very white.

"There is none. The curse is designed to emotionally torture you, just like Cruciatus is used to physically torture you. It feeds, like Dementors, on your happy thoughts and feelings, leaving you with only the bad ones. The only way you can get rid of it is to get rid of the feelings associated with the memories. That is, feel the opposite of what you are feeling under the curse. This is a difficult curse to beat at the highest moments in a person's life. I'm afraid, seeing as how Black only died three weeks ago, this should be impossible to him to beat."

Half the room swore under their breath.

"Harry? What do you see? Tell us, it is the only way we can help," Dumbledore told him, turning pale. Harry looked up. When he spoke, it was like he was in some kind of trance, like the memories were forcing him to speak. As the memories progressively worsened, Harry's voice began to shake.

"I'm in a room, a red one. Reminds me of Gryffindor common room. I see my dad. He yells at my mom to take me and run. We're heading for the stairs at the end of the room. We're at the top, running for the room at the far left of the hall. I-I think it was my room. Crashes downstairs—my mum's crying—Voldemort appears! He yells at her to move, but she won't do it, she won't stop protecting me. She begs him to kill her instead of me. He won't do it—she won't move—"

Harry's eyes filled with tears once more, as did most others in the room. Harry found it was harder to watch if he was forced to tell what was happening as well, but he knew he had to do what he was told.

"He kills her. Green light everywhere and then—we're back in the graveyard. Screams 'kill the spare'. There's Cedric, I can see him, he's right there!"

Mr. and Mrs. Diggory held their breaths.

"There's Sirius! He's falling behind the veil—through the archway..."

Harry was now shaking with suppressed sobs. Dumbledore placed a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder.

xxx

Over the next month and a half they tried everything they could think of to help rid Harry of the curse. They found that if they gave him extremely large doses of dreamless sleep potion, provided by Snape, then the voices would lessen slightly and allow him to sleep. Dumbledore, Tonks, Lupin, Moody, the Weasleys and the rest of the kids were there everyday. Hagrid, McGonagall, Mundungus, Kingsley Shacklebolt, even Snape arrived regularly to help; not that it did much good. It seemed to be working some though, because Harry announced that the yelling had become a little lower. They supposed feeling cared for had helped some, but they couldn't get him to stop feeling guilty.

As August neared an end they faced another problem. Hogwarts would be starting soon, and there was no way that they could expect Harry to be able to concentrate. On the other hand, it would look very suspicious if he was not there. They finally agreed that Harry would return like everyone else, so as not to raise suspicion. Lupin, Moody, Mrs. Weasley, Fred and George would be accompanying them, seeing as Lupin was replacing Umbridge and the others were going to help guard Hogwarts.

**Chapter 4: Some Very Unexpected Guests**

On September first the group took the Knight Bus to King's Cross. Lupin stood guard over Harry, Moody over Ron and Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley over Ginny, which left Fred and George watching over Luna and Neville. They found a large, empty compartment at the end of the train and piled in. Harry sat between Lupin and Ron with the others spread out throughout the compartment. Soon Neville and Ron started playing chess. Hermione curled up with a book. Fred, George, and Ginny played Exploding Snap, and were doing so in such a loud way that it completely covered up the adult's whispering. Luna moved to sit next to Harry.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?" Harry asked shakily; Sirius had just died again.

"For everything that you've had to go through. I wish I could do something to help."

As she said those words Harry felt a little better. The room in his head faded a little.

"You just did," he told her. She looked up surprised. Then her eyes widened.

"Harry, I've just thought of something," she told him, reminding him very much of Hermione. "What if we've been doing this all wrong? What if instead of trying to make you happy, we just try to make you feel something other than sad?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, wincing at Cedric's death.

"I mean, what if we just had to make you really mad at someone, or something—"

"I don't think that will work," chimed in a new voice. They both looked up to see Hermione standing there.

"Why wouldn't it work?" asked Luna. Everyone froze to watch.

"Because Professor Snape said that he had to feel the opposite of what he was feeling now. And the opposite of sad is happy."

"Listen," said Luna, losing her patience. "When you're sad you cry; when you're happy you laugh. Maybe laughing and crying are too similar, so—"

"Oh, please," snorted Hermione.

"Well, it's worth a try isn't it? I mean, being mad does dull the pain of things," Luna snapped angrily.

"Exactly, it dulls the pain. It doesn't make it go away!"

Luna and Hermione argued on and off the whole trip. Harry happened to agree with Luna, but didn't admit it. Then Hermione would get mad at him and it would undo everything that they had worked on that summer.

Harry tried not to look at the thestrals as he climbed into one of the carriages. He was followed by Luna, Lupin, and Moody. Harry didn't even look to see where the others sat, though he was pretty sure he heard Ron complain to his mom that he wasn't a baby and didn't need her to look after him.

People waved and called out to Harry as they made their way up to the castle. He forced a smile on his face and kept walking, whimpering whenever Sirius disappeared behind the veil. Students called out to Fred and George, who had become Hogwarts legends the year before. They beamed and started to hand out fliers for their joke shop at Diagon Alley, stopping only when Mrs. Weasley threatened to drown them in the lake. Moody earned himself stares and whispers, but nearly everyone in fourth year and above, who had had Lupin, stopped to wave. Needless to say, it took the group a very long time to reach the castle.

When they finally reached the Great Hall they all took off in different directions. Luna wandered off to the Ravenclaw table; Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville slumped down at the Gryffindor table. The rest joined Dumbledore up at the head table. The headmaster nodded his head to Harry before addressing the students to eat. Harry barely picked at his food. More to stop Hermione from glaring than anything else, Harry forced himself to eat a few bites of mashed potatoes, feeling angry with Hermione for thinking that he could enjoy meal while watching his loved ones die. Once again, the room in his head faded a little.

Up at the head table Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat. That was when Harry first noticed that he had completely missed the sorting. That thought was forced painfully out of his head as he watched Sirius die again. He barely heard any of Dumbledore's speech. Only when he heard an all too familiar "hem hem" did he look up, started.

Delores Umbridge and Cornelius Fudge were walking towards the head table. Most of the staff and students glared. Dumbledore, however, smiled.

"Cornelius, what bring you here?"

"We wish to speak with Harry Potter," Fudge announced. "We have something to give to him."

The smile immediately fell from Dumbledore's face. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that he's not feeling well. Perhaps you could return at some other time.."

"Nonsense, he's right there. I can see him. Harry come on up here," Fudge called.

"Harry don't move," Dumbledore commanded. The Great Hall was still.

"Come now, what's all the fuss about?"

"He doesn't want to talk to you," said Dumbledore, which was true enough.

"He'll want to hear this," Fudge assured him.

"It's okay, Professor," Harry called, standing up and getting a hold of himself. "What do you want?" Harry asked bitterly, standing before Fudge.

"The Ministry of Magic is proud to present Harry James Potter with this Order of Merlin, third class, for informing the world of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's return," Fudge announced in a business-like tone, handing Harry the award. Harry took it and stared at it, unsure if this was supposed to be some kind of joke or not, trying to concentrate on that and not the continued pleading from his mother. After earning himself a behave-yourself glace from Dumbledore, Harry muttered a shaky, "Thanks."

"You see everyone," boomed Fudge, "this is what you get for telling the Ministry of Magic the truth."

That was too much for Harry. He slammed the Order down so hard that the goblets started to shake.

"Harry," warned Dumbledore, "behave."

"Fuck behaving, you wanna know what I got for telling the Ministry of Magic the truth? I get Umbridge sending two dementors to attack me." There were gasps from the crowd. Umbridge stirred uncomfortably, but Harry continued, ignoring the continuing gasps from his classmates. "Then I save me and my Muggle cousin from having our souls sucked out of us and what do I get? Expelled. Then I spend three weeks carving the words 'I must not tell lies' into my hand, writing it in my own blood," Harry shouted, waving his hand in front of their faces. Lupin and the other Order members leaned forward in their seats, but Harry still was not done. "I get kicked off of the Gryffindor Quidditch team for finally giving Malfoy a little of what he's had coming for the past five years; I get kicked out of Hogsmeade for giving an interview which you had your ministry buy back...then I have Umbridge kicking Dumbledore out, forcing Hagrid into hiding, sending McGonagall to St. Mungo's...you threaten me with the Cruciatus Curse and you make the entire wizarding world believe that I'm a freaking lunatic who tells 'evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories.' That is what you get for telling the Ministry of Magic the truth. Or don't you believe me?"

The entire hall erupted with cheers. Harry glared at Fudge as he stormed back to his seat, the room in his head dimming. He had barely taken five steps when his scar exploded with pain.


	2. Chapters 5 to 9

**Chapter 5: Problem Solved**

Harry fell to the floor with a crash, hands pressed tightly over his scar. While the students gasped in shock and craned their necks to get a better view Dumbledore rushed to Harry's side. Fudge and Umbridge backed away, dumbfounded.

"Harry?" As Dumbledore rested a hand on the young wizard's shoulder Lupin and McGonagall attempted to calm the students. After a minute or so Dumbledore felt Harry relax. He slowly removed his hands from his face.

"Are you okay?" Dumbledore asked .

"I need to talk to you," Harry muttered, standing up. Dumbledore nodded and turned towards the head table.

"Minerva, kindly take over my speech for me. Severus, please show Cornelius and Delores out, and Harry, come with me."

He then led Harry through the hall, not letting him say a word until they were safely in his office with the door shut behind them.

"This way we don't have to worry about being overheard," Dumbledore explained, sitting down and gesturing for Harry to do the same. "Now, about Cornelius—"

"I know that I shouldn't have lost my temper, but that's not what I wanted to talk about," said Harry quickly.

"I see, then what was it?"

"I know that, well, Voldemort can plant images into my head and all, but can he pretend to feel things? I mean, when I felt that he was angry a little while ago, was he really mad, or was he just pretending to be?"

"I believe that those were really his feelings," Dumbledore informed him.

Harry, unsure of what to say, simply nodded and looked around the room, noticing that something was missing.

"Well, hopefully that's good news for us," Dumbledore commented. He paused, then voiced a question Harry had not expected. "Is the curse gone?"

"Not all the way, although it all got a lot less visible, and the yelling has gotten softer. Why?"

"Because I believe that what Miss Lovegood proposed was a good suggestion."

Harry was about to ask how he knew about that when he stopped. This was, after all, Dumbledore, the man that knew everything that was said between others. Instead he said, "Hermione didn't think it was."

"Still, I bet you're happy that the curse has at least died down some, aren't you?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yeah, I am," Harry admitted, then gasped. The room in his head was now barely visible. "You did that on purpose!" Harry accused the older wizard, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Did what?" asked Dumbledore as if he had no idea what was going on.

"It's almost all the way gone!" Harry exclaimed. "Do something else!"

"What about this?" Dumbledore inquired, reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out an envelope with the Hogwarts seal on it. He handed it over to Harry, who looked at it, puzzled. "I probably should have given this to you back in June, but we were a bit preoccupied. But I think this might be just what you need to get rid of the last of the curse."

Harry was about to open the envelope when a crack like a gunshot rang through the room. Harry and Dumbledore looked around to find the source of the noise. A single phoenix feather floated, gleaming, in the air with a note attached to it. That was when Harry realized what was missing: Fawkes.

Dumbledore raised himself from his chair and retrieved the letter. He read it quickly and turned to Harry.

"Remus would like to come up here. Would you mind?"

"Of course not," said Harry, startled that Dumbledore would even have to ask. The older wizard muttered something and the feather vanished. This must have led the visitor in, because seconds later there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

Harry turned in his chair to see Lupin walk in. He took one look at Harry and smiled. "I just thought that I'd come and see how Harry was doing. He had everyone rather frightened back there."

"I'm fine," Harry told him which was, shockingly enough, sort of true.

"We were just about to view his O.W.L. results," Dumbledore informed Lupin, taking his seat once again.

"That's what these are?" Harry gasped; he had completely forgotten about them.

"That's right, you never got those did you?" Lupin asked Harry, shook his head and looked down at the envelope in his hand.

"Well, open it," encouraged Lupin.

Hesitantly Harry opened the letter and looked down at his grades in shock.

Astronomy**P**oor

Care of Magical Creatures**O**utstanding

Charms**O**utstanding

Defense Against the Dark Arts**O**utstanding

Divination**P**oor

Herbology**O**utstanding

History of Magic**D**readful

Potions**E**xceeds Expectations

Transfiguration **E**xceeds Expectations

"Four 'Outstanding's?" Harry asked incredulously, passing the paper to Lupin.

"Well done," he beamed, handing it back to Harry, who looked back down at it, shocked. He turned to give it to Dumbledore but the headmaster shook his head.

"I already know what you got," he told him.

"Of course you do," Harry smiled. Then he stopped. "Hey, the curse is gone!"

"See, I thought that would help," nodded Dumbledore, smiling.

"Then why didn't you give him that a month ago?" asked Lupin.

"Because that wouldn't have helped the curse when it was that strong. But as it seems, Harry need only feel extremely angry and it will lessen the effects of the curse. I guess that we should have invited Cornelius over a long time ago, then," he added thoughtfully.

Harry laughed for the first time in months, then frowned. "So what do you think about Voldemort being angry? Is it something to worry about?"

"Harry, Voldemort's always something to worry about. But I don't want you to worry about it. All I want you to worry about are your Occlumency lessons. I am instructing a new teacher for you."

"Who?" Harry asked, both pleased that it wasn't Snape and upset that he still had to learn it, even though he now knew exactly how important it was.

"I believe that would be me," answered Lupin.

"You?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, why would you prefer someone else?"

"No!" Harry exclaimed, "I'm just glad that it's not Snape."

"Professor Snape, Harry," Dumbledore corrected him. Harry ignored him.

"So, you'll be teaching me," Harry muttered, more to himself than to Lupin.

"Yes, but we also think that I should teach Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood as well," Lupin told him.

"Why?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Because..." Dumbledore struggled to find the words. That was when Harry realized it.

"Because they're his main targets," he murmured aloud. The expression on Dumbledore's face was answer enough.

"But why Neville and Luna? Luna I hardly even know and Neville—"

"Were both in the Department of Mysteries," Lupin reminded him. Harry swore under his breath, remembering.

"I told them not to come," he sighed to himself.

"Harry, we're not sure that they're in danger, we just want to make sure. If we could we would teach everyone Occlumency," Lupin told him in attempt to make him feel better. Seeing that he was not comforted Dumbledore decided to change the subject.

"So, tell me about this army that I came up with."

Harry started. He had completely forgotten about the D.A. He was about to apologize when he saw the look in Dumbledore's twinkling eyes. He then began to tell them all about the D.A. and what all they had learned.

"...and we had been working on Patronuses when we were discovered," Harry finished.

"Patronuses?" exclaimed Lupin, looking impressed. "Could many of them do it?"

"Well, I'd say about ten out of the 27 could. I just thought that it would have worked better if we could have gotten a boggart so that they could practice in front of a dementor like I had, but given the circumstances..."

"Well, what do you think of continuing this club of yours?" Dumbledore asked him. Harry gaped at him.

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not. I think that it is a good idea that you all be as prepared as possible. Alastor and Remus can help you if you need them. You can use the Great Hall if you wish."

"Actually, would it be alright if we continued in the Room of Requirement? It comes complete with tons of defense books and pillows for stunning...it even has Moody's old Dark Detectors."

"If that's what you want, go right ahead. I shall make an announcement tomorrow. When did you normally meet?"

"Eight o'clock. The day changed every week, because we had to accommodate three different Quidditch schedules, and this way it was harder for others to discover a pattern," Harry told them. Both older wizards nodded their approval.

"When do you wish to start it back up again?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to wait a while to see if maybe we can come up with more ideas later when I'm not so tired."

"Yes, you must be exhausted," sympathized Dumbledore. "Why don't you head on back to your dormitory and get some sleep?"

"Sure," agreed Harry, suddenly afraid that he would be faced with the same dreams that he had to face before the curse.

"And on your way why don't you stop by and ask Madame Pomfrey for a dreamless sleep potion?" added Dumbledore.

"Thanks," Harry muttered, standing up.

"Would you please tell the people mentioned to meet in my office at 8 pm on Thursday?" asked Lupin.

"Okay," Harry agreed.

"Remember not to tell anyone else, and make sure that they know that too," Dumbledore reminded him.

"I will," Harry assured them, turning towards the door.

"And Harry?"

He turned around to see both Lupin and Dumbledore watching him.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight," returned Harry.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Lupin said. And with that Harry turned and left the office.

Chapter 6: Danger From Foes

Harry stumbled into the common room twenty minutes later. Madame Pomfrey had told him that she was unfortunately out of dreamless sleep potions, and suggested that he go see Professor Snape, since he had had all the necessary ingredients over the summer and perhaps he still had some of the potion left. Seeing as how he would rather die than go to Snape for help, Harry politely declined and wandered back to the common room, ignoring his fellow students' commentary as he walked.

When Harry entered the room he saw Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville talking quietly in a corner. Harry smiled to himself; how much easier could it get?

"Harry!" cried Hermione when she saw him, beckoning to him. "Come on over here, we were just talking about you!"

"Well, isn't that inviting?" Harry joked, joining the group and disregarding his classmates calling out to him.

"Hey, you were sarcastic!" realized Ron.

"Very good," applauded Harry, smiling.

"But, but, does that mean that—"

"Yup, the curse is gone."

"Oh Harry!" squealed Hermione, hugging him. "But how?"

"Fudge got me really mad, and that got rid of most of it. And then Dumbledore showed me my O.W.L. results."

"Ooh! What did you get?" asked Hermione automatically.

Harry handed her the sheet. It was difficult not to laugh at the look on Hermione's face as she looked down at his grades.

"Wow, Harry, this is really good," Hermione congratulated him as she passed his grades to the others.

"What did you get? Let me guess, all O's?" he asked her.

"No," said Hermione, slightly defensively. "I got an E in Astronomy."

"Boohoo," pouted Harry in friendly sarcasm. He turned to Ron and Neville. "What did you guys get?"

"I don't remember," stated Ron. "I'll show you the sheet later."

'I remember what you got," Hermione declared. "You got P's in Divination, Astronomy, and History of Magic, E's in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures , and Herbology, and A's in Transfiguration and Potions." They all stared at her. "What?"

"You remember that?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Yes, and I know Neville's grades, too," she said impressively. "An O in Herbology, E's in Charms and Care of Magical Creatures, P's in Divination and History of Magic, and A's in everything else." They continued to gape at her.

"You are really weird," Ron told her. Hermione scowled.

"Just because I remember what people get on very important tests—"

"Well, as much as I'd love to stay and chat, I'm really, really tired. I'll just see you guys tomorrow," Harry interrupted. He had just turned to go upstairs when he remembered what it was that he wanted to talk to them about in the first place. "I forgot, Dumbledore wants us all to learn Occlumency," he told them, turning back around to face them.

"What?" Hermione asked, alarmed.

"What's Occlumency?" asked Neville.

"I'll explain later, the point is that Dumbledore wants you guys to learn it too. Lupin will be teaching us, but no one else can know besides the five of us and Luna," Harry informed them.

"Luna?" asked Ginny.

"Yeah, she has to learn it, too. I'll talk to her tomorrow. Just meet in Lupin's office at 8 pm Thursday. Oh, and I forgot to mention; Dumbledore wants us to restart the DA."

"Really?" asked Ron.

"Yeah, so we need to start coming up with ideas. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow."

"Goodnight," they chorused.

"G'night," Harry called and went on up to bed.

xxx

He was standing in the middle of a large circle of hooded people in masks. He moved slowly along the line until he came to a certain person.

"Rookwood!"

The Death Eater cowered at being addressed but never the less turned his head up to gaze at Harry.

"Y-yes Master?" he stammered.

"I thought that you said that when something happens to one of the prophecies that the Keeper of the Hall of Prophecy replaces it."

"Yes, Master, that's right."

"Then why is it," retorted Harry," that when I went to retrieve it I found that the door had been locked?"

"L-locked Master?"

"Yes," snapped Harry," locked. Meaning that absolutely nothing that I tried permitted me access to that room."

"Are you sure that you tried the right door, my lord?" questioned the Death Eater.

"Are you questioning my authority?" Harry demanded.

"NO!" cried the Death Eater, "I was merely saying that there is only one room in the Department of Mysteries that is kept locked at all times. Maybe, maybe because of what happened a few months ago, they sealed that off too...my lord."

"How do they seal the doors?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure, my lord. All that I know is that they were sealed so that no one could gain entrance except for an elite few, and I was never one of them."

"Go figure...it doesn't matter. I have a new plan to learn the prophecy. Severus!" Harry called suddenly, turning to another wizard who stood up straight and tall when he was addressed.

"Yes, my lord?"

"How was Potter doing in his Occlumency lessons?"

"Not very well," Snape informed him. "3 months of practice and no improvement. Dumbledore's assigning the werewolf to teach him, but there's nothing to worry about. In the time I spent with the brat he seemed to get worse if anything."

"Good. How is coming along with the curse?"

"Apparently he threw it off after he told off Fudge. They seemed to have found a loophole."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that Potter only needed to be extremely angry and it would lessen it."

"I see. Does Dumbledore suspect anything?"

"My lord?"

"Does he suspect that I removed it?"

"No my lord, as far as they're concerned there's no counter curse."

"There's not. But, seeing as how it would be an Unforgivable if the Ministry knew about it, it falls under the same category as one. Meaning that you have to be focused on it, and I took my focus off of it when I was trying to get the prophecy. But no matter, I have a new plan now..."

"What is it Master?" asked one Death Eater eagerly. The others in the circle winced at the amateur.

"I will tell you when I feel it necessary," sneered Harry, raising his wand. "It would appear that I need to teach you a little patience. Crucio!"

The Death Eater immediately dropped to the ground and started screaming in agony. The scar on Harry's forehead seared with pain; he sat bolt upright in bed and woke up his entire dormitory with one long, piercing scream.

**Chapter 7: Occlumency**

The next morning Harry got up early and, ignoring Ron's questions, left Gryffindor tower and walked up to Dumbledore's office. He gave the password that he had heard Dumbledore use the previous night (Phoenix) and proceeded up the stairs. He was about to knock on the door when the sound of voices inside made him stop.

"...removed the curse from Harry, no wonder the curse went away so fast," he heard Lupin say.

"Did you find out what the plan was?" Moody growled.

"No, I just know that it has something to do with getting the prophecy out of Potter," Snape informed them.

Harry stood still, not wanting them to know that he had been eavesdropping yet knowing that they probably already knew anyway. Not only could Moody's magical eye see through doors but Dumbledore himself was in there and Harry knew that that man knew everything that went on it that castle. Figuring that he had better do something quick, Harry knocked on the door.

"Come on in, Harry," called Dumbledore.

Harry opened the door and saw that Dumbledore, Lupin, Snape, Moody, Fred, George, and Mrs. Weasley were all assembled inside.

"Should have known, a private conversation between members of the Order and Potter comes running," sneered Snape. Harry scowled.

"I came here to find out whether a dream I had involving you telling Voldemort how bad I was at Occlumency really took place. I'm glad that I know that it did," Harry retorted.

"You saw that?" Snape asked him.

"I believe I just said that," Harry spat.

"Ten points from Gryffindor!" Snape snapped. "For disrespect towards a Professor." Harry rolled his eyes but decided that it would probably be in his best interest not to anger the professor more.

"I thought that you were going to go and ask Madame Pomfrey for a dreamless sleep potion," Dumbledore inquired.

"I was, but she said that she was out so I just went back to the common room." Harry paused before voicing a question that had been bothering him. "So Voldemort still wants to learn the prophecy and now he wants me to tell him?"

"It appears so," stated Dumbledore, "which is why you must learn Occlumency as soon a s you can. I'm pushing the meeting up to tonight. Have you informed your friends?"

"The ones in Gryffindor," Harry answered, not sure whether he was supposed to mention Luna's name or not.

"Good. Go now and tell them that the meting is 8 o'clock tonight," Dumbledore said. Harry could tell that Dumbledore still wasn't going to tell him what was going on. He nodded and turned to leave when Dumbledore called him back. "Harry, did you tell anyone about the prophecy?"

Harry turned back around to look in Dumbledore's eyes. "No," he said truthfully.

"Good. Don't, at least not until everyone has learned Occlumency." Harry nodded to show that he had understood.

"I'll see you all later," he said and left.

xxx

Harry walked to the Great Hall and was relieved to see them all sitting at the table. He walked over and sat down next to Neville.

"Hey, Harry. What did you need to see Dumbledore about?" asked Ron.

"Never mind, Occlumency lessons have been pushed up to tonight," he told them when he was sure no one else was listening.

"Why?" asked Hermione, alarmed.

Harry thought for a moment. He couldn't tell them that it was because Voldemort was trying to get the prophecy out of him because they didn't know that he knew it in the first place. Instead he said, "Dumbledore changed his mind and wants us to start as soon as possible." That was true enough.

"Are you going to go tell Luna or do you want me to?" asked Ginny.

"Um...u go do it, that way it won't look suspicious. Remember: 8 o'clock, Lupin's office, don't tell anyone," he reminded her.

"I'll remember," promised Ginny, standing up. "I'd better go now then. I have potions first and I don't want to be late."

"Don't worry, Snape's in a meeting with Dumbledore," Harry told her.

"Thanks," she said and walked off.

"So what is Occlumency?" asked Neville.

"It's something that stops people from entering your mind," Harry told him. Neville raised his eye brows.

"Entering your mind?"

"Yeah, like finding out information, telling whether or not you're lying, misguiding your thoughts..." Harry trailed off.

"Oh," said Neville comprehensively. "Great, this is gonna be really hard isn't it?

Harry didn't answer.

xxx

8 o'clock that night found Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna all standing in front of Lupin, who was explaining Occlumency.

"...it's a very complex curse to beat, as Harry can tell you, but I have complete faith that all of you will do just fine."

"So did Sirius," Harry muttered, receiving a frown from Lupin.

"Harry can go first since he already knows what to expect. Remember, only use your wand as a last resort. One...two...three...Legilimens!"

_Harry was facing Sirius in the Shrieking Shack, his wand pointed at his godfather's heart. "Going to kill me, Harry?" whispered Sirius...Sirius was hiding in a cave off of Hogsmeade, "What are you doing here?" Harry asked. "Fulfilling my duty as a godfather. Don't worry, I'm pretending to be a loveable stray..." "Poor Snuffles," Ron commented. "He must really like you, Harry, imagine having to live off of rats..." Sirius was falling behind the veil as Bellatrix's evil, baby-like voice rang out through his head..."Awww...did you _love _him, little baby Potter?..."_

"Yes!" Harry burst out, falling to his knees. "Yes, yes, yes!"

Lupin helped Harry to his feet and talked quietly to him while the others looked at him, perplexed.

"I'm here if you need to talk, okay?"

Harry nodded and turned to the others, determined to stay strong and keep the tears from falling.

"Who's next?" asked Lupin.

After seeing Harry collapse the others were somewhat reluctant to volunteer. Apprehensively, Hermione stepped forward.

"Excellent," stated Lupin, raising his wand. "Try to close your mind. One... two... three.. .Legilimens!"

It was very weird to watch from the sidelines, as Harry quickly discovered. Neville did even worse than Harry did and, surprisingly, Luna did the best. She was able to hold Lupin off for a few seconds by the time the hour was up.

"Good job, everyone. We'll meet here the same time tomorrow as well. Remember to rid your mind of emotion every night before you go to bed. I'll see you all tomorrow. Harry, if you could stay a moment..."

"Do you want us to wait for you?" asked Ron.

Harry shook his head.

"I'll meet you guys in the common room." As soon as they were out of the room Lupin closed the door behind them and turned to Harry.

"Are you alright?" he asked the young wizard before him, concern apparent on his face. Harry nodded.

"He loved you, you know. More than anything," Lupin told him.

"Yeah, and look where it got him," said Harry sadly.

"Harry, you can't blame yourself for his death," said Lupin quietly.

"Why not?" demanded Harry. "After all, if I hadn't been such a dumbass and gone after him—"

"Harry, you had no idea that this one dream of Voldemort wasn't real—"

"Hermione told me that it was just a dream! She said that I was supposed to act as if I hadn't seen anything. If I had even bothered to learn Occlumency in the first place I wouldn't even need to worry about pretending that I hadn't seen it because I really wouldn't have seen it!" Harry protested.

"Harry, Sirius was the only person whom you have loved enough to consider a parent. You saw him being tortured and placed his survival above all else. You risked expulsion, imprisonment in Azkaban, and even death in order to save him. No one can blame you for making the decision to go after him, because you made it with your heart."

Harry looked down at his feet, determined to keep the tears that were welling up in his eyes from falling. He had to remain strong, for he knew that if he were to fall apart now then no one would ever be able to pick up the pieces. He felt a hand on his shoulder but continued to stare unseeingly at the ground.

"Harry," started Lupin gently but Harry pulled away from him quickly and looked up into Lupin's warm brown eyes.

"I should go now, I still have a lot of stuff to plan for the DA and Dumbledore wants us to have our first meeting on Thursday..."

"Harry."

Harry stopped talking and looked back up at Lupin.

"I'm here if you need to talk to me, okay?"

"You already told me that," Harry reminded him.

"I know, I'm trying to carve it into your brain." Lupin's tone was humorous but the meaning was serious. Harry nodded and turned to leave when Lupin called him back.

"May I make a suggestion?"

"Of course," said Harry, glad that they were done talking about Sirius.

"You should first review all the things that you guys covered last year and then start up again on Patronuses. If you want I can teach you how to block curses, and then you can teach them that," Lupin suggested.

"That sounds good," agreed Harry. "When do you want to start?"

"You can come by tomorrow at seven before the others get here if you want."

"Sure...um...how long does it take to learn how to block spells?" Harry asked curiously.

"It's not too difficult," Lupin assured him. "I'm sure that you'll have it down within a few days at most."

"Thanks. I'd better go now, I have Potions tomorrow and Snape'll skin me alive if I mess up on something..."

"I thought that you had to get an O in Potions to continue in that class."

"So did I," confessed Harry. "I think that Professor McGonagall talked to him."

"Is that good or bad?" asked Lupin, his eyes twinkling.

"I'm still trying to figure that out," yawned Harry.

"I'll let you go sleep then," said Lupin.

"Thanks, see you tomorrow," said Harry.

When he got back to the common room he quickly spotted Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville.

"Hey," greeted Harry.

"Occlumency is hard!" whined Neville.

"Yeah, you didn't tell us that you had to watch the worst moments of your life!" complained Ron.

"Didn't I?" asked Harry indifferently. "Whatever, I talked to Lupin and he said that for the DA we should review what we already learned and pick up on Patronuses again."

"Yes, that was what I was thinking," said Hermione. "But what about after that?"

"I'm working on it," said Harry, thinking of what Lupin had told him.

"Can you believe that Luna was the best?" asked Ron.

"Hmm..." growled Hermione, apparently upset by the fact that Luna had done better than she had.

"Oh lighten up, Hermione," grinned Ginny, sensing the problem. "Just because you don't like her---"

"Who said I didn't like her?" asked Hermione. "Just because everything that she comes up with is complete crap—"

"How do you know?" Harry demanded suddenly.

"Harry, come on, a Crumple Horned Snorkack?"

"So what?" pressed Harry, suddenly upset. "Just because you've never seen one—"

"Or heard of one," added Hermione.

"Hermione, people thought that I was crazy for believing that Voldemort was back. They thought that I was lying about the dementors. And, if I remember correctly, Luna was the only one who didn't think that I was crazy when I saw those thestrals and she was the only one who believed me when I heard those voices behind that veil!"

"That's not true," said Neville quietly. "I believed you too."

"You did?" asked Harry, anger forgotten.

Neville nodded. "I heard them too."

"You did?" asked Harry, again. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Everyone was too busy," Neville shrugged. "I'm going to bed, I'm tired. I'll see you guys in the morning."

"Yeah me too," agreed Ginny.

After they had bid Ginny and Neville goodnight Hermione turned to Harry.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Forget it," Harry told her. "I don't know why I got so upset in the first place..."

in reality Harry knew exactly why he was upset. After talking to Luna at the end of last year he began to realize how much Luna went through. Everyone thought that she was crazy, and Harry didn't want to add to it. Noticing that Ron and Hermione were still watching him he quickly changed the subject.

"So, what's Dumbledore telling about the DA?"

"I don't know," said Hermione. "I thought that he was making an announcement about it today."

"So did I," muttered Harry. "Maybe he wants to keep it a secret."

"A secret?" asked Ron.

"Yeah, he doesn't want Voldemort's supporters learning what we learned," answered Hermione.

"Oh, I was thinking that he didn't want them to know what we were learning," replied Harry.

"That works too," agreed Hermione.

Harry yawned. He had forgotten how tired he was. "I'm gonna go to bed too," he told them. "I'll see you guys in the morning."

"Goodnight."

Harry walked upstairs, took off his robes, and climbed into bed. It wasn't until he heard a piece of parchment crunch that he realized he was laying on something. Reaching behind his head, he pulled out a note and looked down at the familiar handwriting.

Meet me in my office tomorrow morning at seven. We need to discuss the DA. It won't take long—Albus Dumbledore.

Groaning, Harry crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it across the room, not caring where it went. Then he fell asleep.

**Chapter 8: Surprises**

The next morning Harry woke up and trudged back up to Dumbledore's office. He muttered the password, knocked on the door, and entered.

"Harry, have a seat," greeted Dumbledore.

Doing as instructed, Harry sat down. "So what about the DA?"

"How many people were in it?"

"Including Ron, Hermione, and me? Twenty-eight, but that was last year, several people left last year."

"I will let everyone know that the DA is back on. Anyone who was not in there last year but would like to be in it this year can fill out a form to turn in to me. At the end of the wee we can review them and pick a list of new recruits, so to speak. They can join in at the next meeting. If you would be so kind as to tell the students what spells that they would need to know so that they can be prepared—"

"Actually, sir, we were going to review what we learned last year, so it would probably be best that they attend the first meeting."

"Okay, then push that meeting back to next Thursday. This weekend I want to get to meet the newcomers to see if they will be allowed in it."

"You mean see if they appear to be spies for Voldemort," said Harry.

Dumbledore ignored him.

xxx

"So now the meeting's next Thursday?" asked Ron.

"Yup," said Harry, picking at his toast.

"And Dumbledore wants to get knew people in it?" inquired Hermione. Harry nodded.

"He wants me to come up with a list of everything that we covered last year. I'm gonna need your help. I don't remember," Harry told them.

"We can do that later tonight," Hermione assured him, finishing her breakfast and looking at her watch. "Come on, we'd better get going to Transfiguration."

"Great," muttered Harry, standing up. He noticed that Ron was still sitting. "Aren't you coming?"

Ron looked up at him and shook his head.

"Why not?" asked Harry.

"You need to get at least an E to get in," said Ron simply.

Harry gaped at him. He had completely forgotten that. He had known that Ron wasn't in potions, but that was because Harry wasn't even supposed to be in there. Harry opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again.

"Oh...well...I guess I'll see you later," said Harry, attempting to smile. Ron nodded, then walked over to join Neville a few seats down. Harry was still staring at Ron's vacant seat when a voice jogged his memory.

"Harry, come on, we're going to be late."

Snapping out of his reverie, Harry turned and followed Hermione to class. He was still thinking of Ron's absence when Professor McGonagall entered, lecturing them on how hard the following year was going to be.

xxx

An hour later Harry stumbled into Defense Against the Dark Arts and was relieved to see that Ron was there, as well as the rest of his class. He supposed that with the ongoing threat of Voldemort everybody had to take this class.

"How was Transfiguration?" asked Ron.

"Weird," confessed Harry. "What did you do?"

"What? Oh, Neville and I had a free period, so we finished that list that Dumbledore wanted."

"Really?" asked Harry.

"Yeah," said Ron, pulling out a list and handing it to Harry, who looked at it, amazed.

"We covered all this?"

"Yeah," said Ron. "It was hard work."

"Thanks," said Harry.

"Where's Lupin?" asked Hermione.

"Don't worry, he'll be here," Harry assured her, although he started looking around as well. He felt someone behind him; the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Instinctively, Harry made to grab his wand. That was when he heard a voice behind him cry "Expelliarmus!"

Harry reacted quickly. He spun around so fast that he nearly knocked Ron off of his chair. Before the spell hit him he had cried, "Protego!"

The spell rebounded upon the person who cast it, who deflected it easily. The person looked down at Harry with a smile on his face.

"That is what I expect out of each and every one of you," said Lupin. "You can never let your guard down and must be prepared to defend yourselves at all times. Good job, Harry."

The class stared. Lupin looked at them with his eyebrows raised.

"What are you waiting for? Divide into pairs and get ready to duel. We're going to have a contest."

Everybody's ears immediately perked up as soon as they heard the word 'contest'. Harry paired up with Ron so Hermione was left with Neville. As soon as the class was paired up Lupin began again.

"Everyone will duel it out for five minutes. It doesn't have to last that long, but the longer it lasts the better the duelers are...usually. If both of you are still up by the end of the five minutes you will both move on to the next round. If one of you ends up stunned or incapable of defending yourself then you will be disqualified. The winner of each class will go on to the school-wide tournament that will take place in the Great Hall on Sunday. They will also win the title of their class' best dueler. Also, the winner of the school wide tournament will get fifty points added to their house, as well as a special award that will be placed in the Trophy Room."

"Well that's not fair!" exclaimed Seamus.

"What's not fair?" asked Lupin.

"Well, Harry's had to face You-Know-Who tons of times, so he's had a lot more practice!"

"Lucky me," muttered Harry sarcastically.

Seamus, realizing what he had just said, looked ashamed of himself. "That's not what I meant."

"It doesn't matter," said Harry. "I just won't be in it, that's all."

"Yes you will," said Lupin. "This contest is to determine who the best dueler is. You get better the more practice that you have. It's not your fault that Voldemort's been after you since before you were born."

Harry, despite how he was currently feeling, had to use all the self control he possessed to keep himself from bursting out laughing. Nearly everyone one in the room made some sort of notion at the sound of Voldemort's name. Lupin, noticing the sudden change, spoke again.

"Why are you all so afraid of Voldemort's name?"

Harry sat up in his chair. This had been something that he was always curious about. No one spoke.

"Well?" asked Lupin.

"He's the most evil wizard ever!" said Lavender finally.

"So fear him. Why his name?"

No one seemed to be able to come up with a reason. Lupin seemed to realize that this conversation was going to get him no where, so he moved on.

"I will not force any of you to say his name aloud—yet. Just be warned that I will not tolerate anymore wincing or anything at the sound of 'Voldemort'."

Immediately the entire class winced and Lupin laughed. "Now, I notice that all of you have matched up with your best friends. That's fine. Just don't go easy on each other or I'll have to disqualify you."

Ron raised his hand.

"Yes?" Lupin nodded to him.

"Can I chose a new partner?" The class laughed, all except Harry, who gave his best friend a mocked hurt look.

"Why?" asked Lupin.

"Because he's loads better than I am!" declared Ron.

"So is Voldemort. Do you think that he doesn't fight people just because he's more powerful than they are?"

Harry caught Lupin's eye and smiled. Lupin winked.

"Okay, we're about to begin. Remember, don't go easy on your partner because they're your friends. Voldemort's Death Eaters won't go easy on anyone and you've got to know how to defend yourselves."

"You should have just gotten us some Slytherins then," muttered Dean. Lupin frowned.

"Not all Death Eaters are Slytherins and not all Slytherins are Death Eaters. It's important that you know that."

"Name one Death Eater that's not a Slytherin," challenged Dean.

"Peter Pettigrew," Harry answered curtly before Lupin could.

"Who's that?" asked Seamus.

"The man that everyone confuses with Sirius Black."

Everyone was looking at Harry, who glared right back.

"What?" asked Dean.

"Never mind," interrupted Lupin. "On with the contest. On your mark, get set, GO!"

Ron turned to Harry. "Let's just save us both some time and say that you won."

"Why don't you try? Are you gonna surrender to Voldemort just because you don't think that you can win?"

"Pretty much."

"Why?"

"Because there's no way that I can beat him—or you!"

"That's what I thought every time that I fought him," admitted Harry. "You might surprise yourself. Now come on, before Lupin yells at us."

"Expelliarmus!" cried Ron.

"Protego!"

Ron's spell bounced back to Ron, who, instead of dodging it, got hit with it, sending his wand spiraling across the room. As Ron dove to get it Harry yelled, "Accio wand!"

Ron's wand soared into Harry's waiting hand. Desperately Ron threw himself at his best friend, intending to catch him off guard. Unfortunately for Ron that is, Harry screamed, "Petrifucus Totalus!" Ron was hit in mid-leap, causing him to fall on the floor with a thud. Harry walked over to his rigid friend and looked down at him.

"That was pathetic," Harry told him. Unable to say anything in response, Ron just glared at Harry. Just then Lupin walked over.

"Well, I see we have a winner," he said, smiling down at Ron. "Finite Incantatem." Finally Ron was able to stand up.

"Gee, big surprise there," he said sarcastically, snatching his wand back from Harry. He glared at his best friend for a second, then smiled. "Good job."

"You too, I guess," said Harry, looking around to see if anyone else was still dueling. No one was.

"Okay, the winners of this round were Harry, Hermione, Dean, and Parvati. You four divide into pairs and we'll try this again."

Parvati instantly picked Hermione, so Dean reluctantly turned towards Harry.

"You're not gonna go easy on me, are you?"

"Would Voldemort?" was Harry's response. He raised his wand.

"On three," said Lupin. "One...two...three!"

"Expelliarmus!" cried Harry.

Dean just barely missed it. He screamed, "Rictusempra!"

"Protego!" cried Harry.

This spell hit Dean, who started doubling up with laughter.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry used this spell again, only this time, instead of shouting it, he whispered it. Dean, who was laughing so hard that he didn't even hear Harry's spell, was surprised to feel his wand fly out of his hand.

"Another match done," said Lupin, removing Harry's spell from Dean and re-awakening Parvati. "It all comes down to this final match between Harry and Hermione."

Everyone gathered around, eager to see this battle. Harry and Hermione faced each other.

"Now, all of you seem to have forgotten your manners. Does anyone remember how you're supposed to begin a duel?"

"Bow," spat Harry bitterly, remembering his graveyard duel with Voldemort.

"Correct now bow."

Harry and Hermione bowed to each other.

"Good. One...two...three!"

"Petrificus Totalus!" cried Hermione.

Harry dodged her spell and cried, "Impedimenta!"

"Impedimenta!"

"Protego!"

Harry dodged her spell again, this time attempting to disarm her. "Expelliarmus!"

Now it was Hermione's turn to dodge his spell. That was when Harry realized that they'd be doing this all day, simply dodging each others' spells. He needed something to distract her. Then he got an idea.

"Expecto Patronum!" cried Harry. An enormous silver stag erupted out of the end of Harry's wand and ran in circles around Hermione, who was taken back by the sudden blinding light. Harry used this to his advantage and cried, "Petrificus Totalus!" The spell hit Hermione squared in the chest, sending her flying backwards.

"Latenant!" said Harry, slowing her fall. "Expelliarmus," he finished, holding out his hand for her wand.

The room erupted with cheers. Harry immediately bent down to help Hermione to her feet. She smiled at him. "Congratulations."

"Harry is our winner, meaning that he will attend the final few rounds that will start at noon on Sunday in the Great Hall. We will have a winner for each year, and then they will compete. Good luck, Harry."

The bell rang.

"Your homework is to practice those spells some more!" Lupin called after them.

Harry left with Ron and Hermione. Once they were outside Hermione faced him. "What made you think of using a Patronus?"

"I had to distract you, otherwise we would have been there all day," Harry told her. "Anyway, I'd better take this list of spells to Dumbledore. It's funny, last year I don't speak to him for six months and now, all of a sudden, I'm seeing him everyday."

Ron and Hermione laughed. "See you later."

Harry nodded and walked up to Dumbledore's office.

xxx

"Wow, I didn't expect you to have the list so fast," said Dumbledore, impressed.

"Neither did I," Harry told him. "Ron and Neville did it while I was in Transfiguration."

"That was very nice of them. Now, is there anything else that you'd like to discuss?"

Harry shook his head. "I just came to give you the list that you asked for. I guess I'll talk to you later."

"Harry, would you, Ron, and Hermione meet me here on Sunday? I'd like to review with you the new DA members."

"It'll have to wait until that contest of Lupin's is over, but sure."

"I knew you'd get in," said Dumbledore approvingly. "Who came in second?"

"Hermione."

"No surprises there. I'll see you on Sunday, as soon as the contest is over."

Harry nodded his head in agreement.

**Chapter 9: Sunday**

Harry woke abruptly on Sunday morning due to someone shaking him. Slightly irritated, he opened his eyes to stare into those of his best friend.

"C'mon, mate. The contest starts in twenty minutes!"

Harry groaned and pulled on his glasses. He noticed that everyone in his dorm was up, dressed, and staring at him.

"Am I really that fascinating?" he asked groggily, pulling on his shirt and robes.

"We've got the list on all the class winners, it you're interested," said Seamus, holding out a sheet of paper.

"Who?" asked Harry, curiously.

"Here we go. In Gryffindor: (a/n this is supposed to be in list form, so if it's not, blame not me)

1—Natalie Pathel

2—Euan Abercrombie

3—Dennis Creevy

4—Leslie Hyzer

5—Ginny

6—you, (duh)

7—Katie Bell

Hufflepuff:

1—Jennifer Grau

2—Rose Zeller

3—Robert Hethe

4—David Cote

5—Patrick Vert

6—Ernie McMillan

7—Jeana Meller

Ravenclaw :

1—Anissa Bailey

2—Janelle McKeen

3—Gillian Harlow

4—Micheal Tyler

5—Luna Lovegood

6—Padma Patil

7—Elle Smaley

Slytherin

1—Alex Moore

2—Barbara Mhoon

3—Kelley Goodson

4—Matt Eckler

5—Marissa Dange

6—Malfoy (great)

7—that Warrington guy (did he fail _again?)"_

Seamus rolled up the list and put it in his pocket. "So, basically, you've got this thing won."

Harry just shook his head, putting on his shoes as he did this.

"Ready?" asked Ron impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, fine," yawned Harry, standing up.

xxx

When they reached the Great Hall all the tables were gone, save one long wide one running through the middle of the room. Chairs surrounded it on every side and Harry knew that this was where the dueling was going to take place. He spotted Lupin and fought his way over.

"Harry, good, I need to make sure that all the winners are here. It's about time." Lupin made his way onstage and addressed the crowd. "Attention please." The entire hall fell silent or as silent as it was possible to get for a room that full at such an exciting time. "Thank you. I need all first year winners up here, please."

Natalie, Jennifer, Anissa, and Alex made their way onstage. Alex looked upset to be the only guy up there.

"I will draw two names. Those two students will compete. That winner will take on the winner of the other two's battle. That person will be named the winner of their year. They also win their house twenty points. The same will continue for all years. I will explain the rest when we get there. Any questions?"

Nobody had any. They were all simply anticipating the start of the contest.

"Okay, the first two competitors are Natalie Pathel of Gryffindor and Anissa Bailey of Ravenclaw. Now, would you two bow." Both did as they were told. "Good. On your mark, get set, GO!"

And so it went on for another hour. Anissa Bailey won first year, Euan Abercrombie for second, Gillian Harlow for third, and Matt Eckler for forth. Then came fifth year. Ginny beat Marissa Dange easily and Luna had no problem with Patrick Vert. The last match between Ginny and Luna was close. Luna shouted "STUPEFY!" about a millisecond before Ginny did. Ron was visibly upset.

"How could Loony, I mean Luna," he corrected himself after seeing Harry's furious stare, "beat Ginny?"

"You underestimate her," said Harry simply, rising as he heard his name being called.

"Good luck," whispered Hermione.

"Not that you need any," finished Ron.

Harry, Ernie, Padma, and Malfoy gathered side by side onstage. Lupin drew the first names. "Harry Potter of Gryffindor and Ernie McMillan of Hufflepuff."

Harry and Ernie got into position. They bowed on command and raised their wands. "1—2—3!"

"Stupefy!" cried Ernie. Harry dodged his spell.

"Silencio!" screamed Harry. His spell hit Ernie, who looked upset. Deciding that he didn't need his voice, he "screamed" "Stupefy!" again.

Harry, even though he was curious as to what would happen if he was hit with a silent spell, reflected it by yelling "Protego!"

It was obvious that the spell was weak because it didn't even manage to get back to Ernie. Harry then sent his own stunning spell at his opponent. Ernie, who could not utter a single spell, dodged it. Harry sent the same spell towards him again. Ernie jumped to the left. Then he jumped right to avoid Harry's next jinx. Unfortunately for him he jumped right into Harry's next curse which had been aimed a foot away from where Ernie was standing.

"And our winner is Harry!" chimed Lupin, helping Ernie to his feet. Through the clapping Ernie made his way over to sit down next to Harry, who was watching Padma and Malfoy prepare to duel.

"How did you know that I was going to jump that way?" asked Ernie.

"You were predictable," replied Harry, not mentioning that he had been the one in Ernie's position over three years ago, his opponent being a giant basilisk.

Three minutes later Malfoy was pronounced the winner. Harry groaned and stood up. He should have known that this would happen. He saw Malfoy wink at Crabbe and Goyle. Harry took his place and "bowed" to Malfoy as the Slytherin did the same.

"On three. One...two..."

But just as he had done the last time they dueled, Malfoy started on "two." Harry, who had half-expected this, quickly shouted, "Protego!"

Malfoy, surprised at Harry's fast reaction time, barely had time to duck. Harry took this time to yell "Stupefy!" just as Malfoy did the same. The two spells collided and bounced out to the sides. Certain members of the crowd screamed as they made to avoid being hit by the spells.

"Too bad your little guard dog isn't here to save your life!" sneered Malfoy, dodging another of Harry's curses.

"Too bad your father isn't here to save yours," retorted Harry.

"Oh yeah," snapped Malfoy, having sent another stunner at Harry, "well at least my father is still ali—"

Before Malfoy could even finish his sentence Harry had hit him with his own stunning spell. Malfoy, caught unaware, was stunned in mid-sentence and fell to the floor. The hall erupted with cheers. Practically everyone was happy to see Draco Malfoy fall.

"Don't let him get to you," muttered Lupin as he bent down to revive Malfoy. Harry nodded and went to sit down beside Ron and Hermione as Lupin announced him the winner.

"That was awesome, mate," said Ron, beaming.

"Ignore what he said about Sirius," advised Hermione.

"Does it look like I did anything inappropriate?" asked Harry.

The seventh years went by in a bit more time then the previous years, due mainly to the fact that they knew more spells than the others did. The winner was Jeana Harlow, a Hufflepuff.

(A/n: the next bit might get a bit confusing but I had problems writing it out. I hope you get what I'm trying to say. If not, it's not really that important, so don't worry about it.)

"Okay, now that we have the winners from each year we will find the overall winner. I will draw two names. That winner will take on the winner from the next two contestants. The winner of the _next _two people will take on the last person. That winner will duel the first winner and we will have our champion."

"That was far too much work," stated Harry, getting up once more to join the other six onstage. He took his place between Luna and Jeana. He watched as Anissa Bailey beat Euan Abercrombie. Luna easily took out Matt Eckler. In the battle between Luna and Anissa, Luna proved victorious. Harry beat Gillian, and then Jeana. The final battle was between Harry and Luna, who took their places on either side of Lupin.

"Good luck," said Harry and Luna at the same time. Laughing, they bowed to each other.

"1...2...3—Go!"

"Locomotor Mortus!" cried Luna, pointing her wand at a vacant chair. She then flicked her wrist so that the chair went soaring towards Harry, who dropped to the ground to avoid being hit. Luna, seeing Harry defenseless on the ground, screamed, "Stupefy!"

Quickly, Harry rolled over and leapt to his feet, crying "Stupefy!" as he went.

"Protego!"

As Harry dodged the returning spell Harry screamed Petrifucus Totalus!" Luna barely made it in time. She cried "Expelliarmus!" a second after Harry had cried, "Stupefy!"

Unfortunately for Luna, Harry's spell's shorter length added to her bad timing caused her to get hit. Harry dropped to the ground to avoid her spell at the same time that she got hit with his. She was knocked off her feet at the same time that Harry rose from the ground. The entire hall started clapping. Harry walked over to help Luna to her feet. "Good job," she said.

"I believe that would be 50 points to Gryffindor," announced Lupin. "As well as this little addition to the trophy room." As he said this he raised a small trophy into the air.

"Do you have to put that in there?" asked Harry.

"Yes," said Lupin simply. "Don't you have a meeting with Dumbledore now?"

"Oh yeah," said Harry. "Will you tell Ron and Hermione where I went?"

"No problem," said Lupin.

"Thanks." Harry smiled and left the Great Hall, despite how many people were trying to get his attention. Once he knocked on the door to Dumbledore's office and heard the familiar "come in" he entered.

"Congratulations on winning the contest," was Dumbledore's way of greeting. Harry didn't have to ask how he already knew that he won.

"So, have you come up with a list yet?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore, extracting a piece of parchment from his desk drawer and handing it to Harry. "This is a list of last year's continuing members as well as the new members. There are a total of forty people excluding you, Ron, and Hermione."

Harry raised his eyebrows. He had been expecting a lot more than this. As if in response to Harry's unasked question Dumbledore continued. "More than that applied, but I thought that any more and it would be too hard for you to teach all at once. I picked the students that I found most trustworthy and put them in with you. It includes only students in fifth year and above, the only exception would be to those few younger students that you were teaching last year. Anyone younger than that who wanted to be in it are now going to be taught by Fred and George, who agreed to take on that job as well."

"Wow," said Harry, shocked by this bit of news. Looking down at the list, he wasn't surprised to see that Cho and Marietta weren't on this list, nor were any Slytherins. Harry wondered briefly if this was because none had applied or because Dumbledore found all of them untrustworthy. Both seemed plausible.

"So, Remus tells me that he's teaching you how to block curses."

Harry nodded. "We were supposed to start earlier this week, but we had a lot of homework so we didn't start working on it until Friday night. "

"How's that going?" asked Dumbledore.

"Better than Occlumency. Actually, I think that I'm getting the hang of it. I should have it down by the time the DA starts back up."

"Well that's—"

The headmaster's sentence was interrupted by the door bursting open to reveal one very angry Severus Snape. When he saw Harry his scowl intensified, as did his bad mood.

"You had better learn to watch out for yourself, Potter," growled Snape.

"Severus, what happened?" asked Dumbledore.

Instead of answering, Snape turned and glared at Harry. It took only a moment for Harry to grasp his intention.

"I'll talk to you later, Professor," he said, rising from his chair.

"Good day, Harry."

Harry made his way solitarily back to the Gryffindor common room. As soon as he stepped inside a mass of cheering erupted around him. People were clapping him on the back, yelling, cheering, and eating. Gigantic banners spread throughout the room read: CONGRATULATIONS HARRY! Harry, whose thoughts had still been on the DA and Snape, was taken aback.

"What's all this for?" he asked.

"For you, mate," said Ron, thumping him on the back. "You did a great job, especially against Malfoy.

"Thanks," said Harry, his face turning hot with all these eyes on him. Hermione, sensing the problem, led them both out of the center of the room to talk.

"So, what did Dumbledore say?"

"He gave me a list of the new DA members," said Harry, helping himself to some food. He handed her the list.

"This is all?" she asked in surprise, handing the list to Ron.

"That's everyone that Dumbledore found trustworthy and was in fifth year and above," explained Harry. "Everyone else is going to be taught by Fred and George."

"What?" asked Ron in disbelief.

"Yeah, I know," said Harry.

"Weird," muttered Ron. Harry nodded his agreement. Hermione just shook her head. Harry and Ron were not stupid enough to ask her what she was upset about, for both knew that it would result in a twenty minute lecture on all the useless stuff the twins were going to teach. Minutes later Fred and George made their way over to them.

"So, I take it you lot have heard about our new job?" asked Fred.

"How are you managing all these jobs?" asked Ron. "First you start your own business, then you join the Order and help watch over Hogwarts, and now you're going to teach as well?"

"It's not that hard," said George. "Two hours a week teaching kids to duel, Monday through Friday we wander the halls promoting out shop and keeping you all safe, and weekends we go back to work. It's a piece of cake."

"Who's watching the store the rest of the time?" asked Harry, trying not to laugh at the look on Hermione's face.

"Lee and Angelina," Fred informed them.

"Angelina?"

"Oh yeah, didn't we tell you? We hired her this summer. She was looking for a job and we decided that since we'd be here most of the time Lee could use some help. It's only temporary, you know, until she gets another job, but it works for now."

"What happens when she leaves and it's just Lee there?" asked Ron.

"I dunno, maybe we can get Charlie or Dung to do it, neither of them seem very busy," said George.

"I thought that Charlie was going back to Romania soon," said Hermione, finally taking part in the conversation.

"He is," said Fred. "But maybe we can persuade him to stay."

"Maybe," agreed Harry, yawning.

"Tired?" smiled Hermione.

"Just a little," said Harry, blinking sleep from his eyes. Forty minutes later, however, he could no longer avoid sleep. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning."

"Goodnight" they all chorused back.

Upstairs, Harry pulled on his pajamas and climbed into bed. He was tempted to simply fall asleep, but them he remembered what Snape had said. He couldn't believe that he forgot to tell Ron and Hermione. Making a mental not to tell them in the morning, he lay back and tried to clear his mind, determined to show Snape that he could learn Occlumency and take care of himself. With his mind as blank as he could possibly make it, Harry fell asleep.


	3. Chapters 10 to 13

**Chapter 10: Back In Session**

"Come on, Harry, concentrate," said Lupin, sending another curse at him. Harry, focusing all of his concentration on the spell shooting out of Lupin's wand, flicked his wrist the way he had been taught. To his amazement, the curse was deflected. "Very good," smiled Lupin. "Let's try again."

He made Harry deflect curses for another ten minutes before he was satisfied.

"I think that you've got it down," said Lupin, sitting down and indicating for Harry to do the same. "I told you it wouldn't take you a long time."

"Yeah, if only it were this easy with Occlumency," said Harry.

"Don't worry, you'll get it. Remember, it took you six months to learn how to conjure a patronus, and that was something that they show students in seventh year. Occlumency is something that many grown wizards never hear of, let alone learn. Are you practicing every night before you go to sleep?"

"Yes, but it's not doing much good. At least with patronuses I made some improvement. I've been working on this for how long now, and I'm not getting the slightest bit better," complained Harry.

"I have faith in you," Lupin told him. "Try to find something else to concentrate on when people like Malfoy are around. If you can learn to keep your emotions under control then that should help make Occlumency easier to learn."

"Great, the Dursleys all over again," muttered Harry, thinking about the last time that Aunt Marge had visited.

"What?"

"Nothing," answered Harry. "What would you suggest thinking about? The last time that I tried to do that I was reciting a Quidditch book in my head, but that stopped working as soon as I forgot what came next."

"Well," considered Lupin. "Maybe you have to envision yourself flying around somewhere, over an open field, perhaps. You know, anywhere that's calm and peaceful."

"It's worth a try," answered Harry.

"Would you like to have another go at Occlumency before the others get here?" asked Lupin. "You could try to see if the Quidditch technique works for that or not."

"Sure," agreed Harry, getting up and following Lupin to the center of the room.

"Get ready, Legilimens!"

"_Your mother needn't have died, she was trying to protect you..." "Not Harry! Please no, take me, kill me instead!" "I hope you didn't waste time down there acting like a hero..." "It's still a Hogwarts victory, we'll tie for it..."_

As countless memories flashed through his head, Harry fought with all of his might to concentrate on the open field and not his mother's pleading voice. As the field vision began to get clearer, it pushed the bad memories out of the way. After another minute or so the memories were hardly visible and completely inaudible. That was when Lupin lifted the spell.

"That was certainly an improvement," encouraged Lupin. "I predict that after two or three months at this rate you'll be able to look Severus or me in the eye and lie to us without our knowledge."

"What about Dumbledore?" asked Harry, thinking about those annoying, penetrating blue eyes.

"Not a chance. But don't worry, I don't think that anyone can do that." Harry laughed.

"Come on, let's have another try. We still have about twenty minutes before the others get here."

"Okay," agreed Harry.

"Legilimens!"

"_You have been taught to duel, Harry Potter?" "Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew's transformed." "Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?" "There is nothing as important as you learning Occlumency." "Don't kill Cedric, don't kill Cedric, who's Cedric, your boyfriend...Dad, help me..."_

Harry, who was starting to get frantic about Lupin hearing the rest of the dream that Dudley was reciting, tried to push him out. Next thing he knew he was on the ground with Lupin standing over him.

"You're getting there," said Lupin, extending a hand to help Harry to his feet. "You forgot about the field, you let me get in too far."

"Sorry," said Harry. "It's just that some of those memories just—"

"No need to be sorry," Lupin told him. "What you just did was use your willpower to push me out of your mind, no help from anything else. It just took you a bit longer is all."

"Can we try again?" asked Harry.

"Of course. Get ready—Legilimens!"

"_I'll bet that's why You-Know-Who wanted to kill him in the first place, didn't want another dark lord competing with him." "The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue a bit." "Hermy, where Hagger?" "I am not paying for some crackpot old fool to teach him magic tricks!" _

At this Harry burst out laughing, causing the curse to lift and Lupin to look down at him, perplexed.

"What was that? These aren't supposed to be humorous memories."

"They're not," Harry assured him, calming down. "It's just that that line came from when my uncle tried to stop me from coming to Hogwarts. The memory itself wasn't happy, at least not that part, but the line itself was. The 'crackpot old fool' is Professor Dumbledore."

"Ah, well, that does put things into perspective, doesn't it? Now the other memories—"

Harry groaned and rolled his eyes.

"What was with the supposed reason that Voldemort wanted to kill you?"

"It was second year when they thought that I was attacking the students, when everyone found out that I could speak Parseltongue," said Harry in an offhand voice.

"And the Cruciatus curse?"

"Oh, um, well.." Harry was unsure if he wanted Lupin to know that. He sighed, it was too late now. "Umbitch...I mean bridge, Umbridge, she, er, wanted to know who I was using her fire communicate with that...that night."

"And she threatened you with the Cruciatus curse?" asked Lupin incredulously.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, she got the word halfway out of her mouth before Hermione dissolved into 'tears'." As he said the last word Harry made the quotations symbol with his fingers. (A/N: I don't know how to describe this, so I hope you get what I mean.)

"What do you mean, 'tears'?" asked Lupin, repeating Harry's gesture.

"Well, since I knew that Harry, being as stubborn as he is, was never going to tell her anyway, why not tell her some fake story to lead her in the wrong direction?" said a new voice. Harry and Lupin turned around to see Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna standing in the doorway.

"How did you lead her in the wrong direction?" asked Lupin.

"I told her that we were trying to contact Professor Dumbledore to tell him that the weapon was ready," said Hermione. "When she asked us to show her where it was I lead her into the Forbidden Forest where she got carried away by a heard of centaurs."

"Quick thinking," nodded Lupin, obviously impressed. "Why did the centaurs leave you behind?"

"Well..." Hermione trailed off, not wanting to give away Hagrid's secret. Now, however, was Harry's turn to answer.

"Do you remember that last memory that you saw? Not the crackpot one, but the 'Hermy where Hagger' one?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I was meaning to ask you who that—"

"It was Hagrid's little brother," Ron answered before Harry could.

"Hagrid's little—"

"Don't you think that it's time to start with the lesson?" interrupted Harry.

"Yes," agreed Lupin, snapping out of questioning mode. "Who wants to go first?" (A/N: ok, maybe not totally out of questioning mode.)

"I'll go," said Luna, taking her place before Lupin.

While Luna, Ginny, and Neville all took turns with Lupin, Hermione and Ron confronted Harry.

"So, are you going to tell us what Lupin was teaching you yet?" asked Ron.

"He taught me how to block curses," answered Harry, his eyes on Neville.

"Why didn't you tell us?" demanded Hermione.

"I wanted to wait until I could actually do it," said Harry. "Don't worry, as soon as we're done reviewing I'll teach it to the DA. I think they'll have an easier time with that than patronuses."

After everyone else had had a turn with Lupin Harry stood up to take his place. He took a deep breath and concentrated on the field while Lupin cried, "Legilimens!"

"_Ginny, don't be dead, please don't be dead." "Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me." "That's chess, you've got to make some sacrifices." "If you want to kill Harry you'll have to kill all three of us." "The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord will be born as the seventh month dies." "Come on, you can do better than that."_

"STOP IT!"

Harry was on the ground, his hands over his face. He hadn't seen his godfather die in a while. He had been so busy with the Occlumency lessons that he hadn't had time to broad on it. now, however, the memories came flooding back to him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Lupin's warm amber eyes that were filled with concern.

"I-I think that I started thinking about the field too soon," he said before Lupin could say a word. "I wasn't ready; I'll do better next time." And without a word to anyone he sat down in his chair and stared out the window, blinking back tears and silently scolding himself for not being able to control his emotions as he knew he ought to.

"Are you ok?" asked Hermione. Harry just nodded and remained solid. He watched the others struggle through Occlumency for another twenty minutes before he thought that he was ready to try again.

"Harry, are you sure that you want to continue?" asked Lupin doubtfully. "You've been through a lot today, maybe you should just call it quits for today—"

"No!" Harry practically shouted. "I need to learn how to do this. I'll have one more go tonight and then we can quit."

Lupin agreed, although it looked like it was against his better judgment. "Legilimens!"

xxx

Harry stared as the room in front of him filled with people. He was used to teaching twenty-seven people, not forty. He was surprised t o find that he was nervous; it wasn't as if this was his first time teaching or anything. He took a deep breath and waited until he had everyone's attention before he started.

"Well, I'm glad to see that you all are so keen to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm honored to teach you all, I just wish that you'd never have to know this. Since there's an even number of people, I want you all to divide into pairs. We're going to start off by reviewing what you learned last year, both to refresh your memories and give the new members an opportunity to catch up. Now, who here cannot produce a disarming spell? Don't be afraid of looking stupid, you'll look like an even bigger idiot when everyone else moves on and you can't because you don't have the basics down."

Nobody raised their hand.

"Okay," continued Harry. "I'll take your word for it but remember, if you're too ashamed to admit it in front of everyone you can come and talk to me at anytime for extra help. Now we're going to move on to stunning..."

For the next ten minutes Harry wandered among the students. All of the returning members had it down perfectly, which came as no shock to Harry. What did shock Harry was the alarming rate at which the newcomers were progressing. He supposed that the older members had told them what they were supposed to know, which was fine with him.

"I think that for the rest of the time we will spend five minutes on each spell. That should give me enough time to see what you're doing wrong and correct it so that you can practice on your own. Now we're going to work on Shield Charms..."

After 'Protego' they worked on the Impediment Jinx. Then Harry made sure that they could all perform the Summoning and Banishing Charms, which wasn't hard, considering that Flitwick had already taught them that in class. Harry nodded his approval and offered his advice where he saw fit, trying to encourage them. He was pleased to see that they were moving along nicely.

"Attention, please!" he called at nine. "That was great for a first lesson. I expect all of you to practice during the week so that next lesson we can move on to something else."

"When are we going to work on Patronuses again?" asked Lavender.

"After we review all of what we covered last year and get these guys caught up I'm gonna teach you all how to block curses and then we can pick back up on Patronuses. But that's only if you all work really hard. Deal?"

"Deal," they all chorused back.

"Good," agreed Harry, pulling out the maurauder's map. He opened his mouth to dismiss them but stopped looking down at the map that his father and godfather had worked so hard to make. If he ever got this taken away... he resolved to take extra good care of it. Looking up to find the entire room staring at him, Harry quickly cleared his throat. "Ok, so, all dismiss you in groups of threes—"

"Harry?" He looked up at Hermione.

"What?"

"We're not sneaking around anymore, remember? Everyone can leave without getting in trouble, because Dumbledore gave us permission. "

"Oh yea," remembered Harry. He put the ma back in his pocket. "Well, same time next week. Practice!"

Once everyone had left Harry, Ron, and Hermione cleaned up the Room of Requirement.

"That went well," observed Hermione as they worked.

"I agree, they were a lot better than I would have expected them to be," said Harry.

"Well, I expect they've already been practicing before," said Hermione as they headed back toward Gryffindor tower.

"Yeah, I guessed that, too," said Harry.

"So, how many more class times do we have to review?" asked Ron.

"Not too many," Harry assured him. "I just want to make sure that everyone has the old material down first."

"So within a few weeks?" persisted Ron.

"Yes, Ron. By next month we will be starting something new, don't worry."

"Good."

Harry laughed and Hermione rolled her eyes. "You'd think you'd be glad not doing anything new so you would have time to study Occlumency," she told him.

"Oh lighten up," said Ron. "We're doing that, too."

"I don't think you're taking it serious enough," continued Hermione. "Dumbledore obviously thought that it was really important, otherwise he wouldn't have Lupin be teaching all of us, he would have only been teaching Harry.

"Why do we have to learn it, though?" asked Ron. "I mean, Harry's the one seeing things through You-Know-Who—"

"Shhh!" whispered Harry and Hermione frantically.

"Sorry!" said Ron, clapping a hand over his mouth and looking around. "I don't think that anybody heard me."

"You'd better hope not," snapped Hermione. "Can you imagine what would happen if that story got out?"

"I didn't mean to!"

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," said Harry. The Fat Lady's portrait swung open, putting an end to Ron's and Hermione's fight. Well, that one anyway.

"Let's finish our homework now that we've got some time," suggested Hermione.

"We can do homework anytime," argued Ron. "Let's do something fun."

"Like what?" snapped Hermione.

"Exploding Snap...chess...Gobstones..."

"Oh yeah, it's not like you can play any of those anytime—"

"We haven't done anything fun in a while," complained Ron.

"Whatever!" snorted Hermione. "You played Quidditch all day Saturday, you beat both Harry and me about ten times last week in chess—"

"That was last week," countered Ron. "This week all we've done is homework and Occlumency."

"In case you haven't noticed, we were assigned even more homework today. I would have thought that you'd rather waste Thursday night doing homework than this weekend."

"We'll do homework then, too!" shouted Ron exasperatedly. He turned to Harry. "Back me up, mate."

"You're on your own," said Harry, retrieving his bag from the corner where had thrown it before, sitting down, and starting to work on an essay for Snape.

"OH! Look at that, Harry's decided to do homework!" cried Hermione triumphantly.

"Harry!" exclaimed Ron.

"Well, what do you expect? I can't play any games by myself and you two won't stop fighting. Besides, we don't have too much homework. We can plat chess or whatever later, Ron," Harry added, seeing Ron's crestfallen face. "Just let me finish Snape's essay and I'll play whatever you want."

"Fine," muttered Ron, slumping down next to Harry and starting on his essay. He didn't so much as look at Hermione, who, thirty minutes later, decided that she had had a long day and was going to bed. Ron stared at her as she left. As soon as she was out of earshot he turned back to Harry. "Exploding Snap?"

"Sure," Harry agreed, finishing the last line of his essay.

"So what was that?" asked Ron, passing out the cards.

"What was what?"

"You know, your sudden desire to do homework."

"It wasn't a 'desire to do homework'" Harry told him, beginning to play. "You two were fighting and I couldn't think of anything else to do. Besides, I figured that it was a fair compromise: spend the first part of the evening doing homework until Hermione goes to bed and then you can I can do whatever we want."

"Good thinking," agreed Ron, adding his cards to the stack. "How's Occlumency going?"

"What do you mean, 'how's it going'? You're there with me!"

"I know, but I can't see how well you do. Is it easier than with Snape?"

"Hell yes," answered Harry, continuing the game. "Lupin encourages people, all Snape does is scowl and say how weak and useless I am."

"Yeah, that sounds like Snape," grinned Ron. "I'm glad I didn't have to learn from him."

"Lucky," agreed Harry.

"What's lucky?" asked Fred. Ron jumped at the new voice but Harry, who had seen the twins enter a moment before, looked up.

"Ron's lucky that he never had to have extra lesson with Snape," he told them.

"Ahhh...yes, Occlumency," nodded George. "You know, if you ever get good enough at it, you might want to learn Legilimens. Then you could teach the DA."

"Hey, that's an awesome idea!" agreed Ron.

"Yeah, the only problem is that I can' even protect my own mind, how am I supposed to attack others'?" asked Harry.

"You'll get there," encouraged Fred. Harry was saved from further comments by the stack of cards in front of him blowing up in his face.

"Nice look," Fred told him, eyeing the ashes that now decorated Harry's face. George and Ron nodded their agreement.

"Thanks," muttered Harry sarcastically, wiping his glasses off on his robes. "So how's your mini-DA?"

"Mini-DA, huh?" asked George, considering the name. "Nice. Anyway, it's okay. They're a bit slow, really, I can't remember being that stupid when I was a first year."

"What are you teaching them?" asked Ron.

"Well, we tried 'Expelliarmus', but it's not working too well. The forth years and most of the thirds got it. The others, well, let's just say they better be a fast runner."

"Why?" asked Ron.

"So they can run away from the Death Eater's spells, because their wands sure as hell aren't doing them any good."

"That's nice," replied Harry.

"Well it's true," said Fred. "You had to teach, what, forth year and up?"

"Yeah," agreed Harry. "Except for Dennis Creevy, he was a second year.

"Even he's better than these kids!" insisted George. "I haven't seen anyone this inept since Lockhart!"

Fred and Ron laughed; Harry frowned. George's words came crashing down on Harry: kids. They were eleven years old. They weren't supposed to have to learn how to fend for their lives. Ron noticed Harry's frown. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," lied Harry. Ron looked skeptical but remained silent.

"Oh, that reminds me," said Fred. "McGonagall's offering Harry his position as Seeker back again. Also, the team captain position. What d'you say?"

Harry stared at him. Quidditch captain? Normally he would have been thrilled. But now, after everything that had happened, Harry wasn't so sure that he wanted to play anymore.

**Ch. 11 Trouble**

"Are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"

"No, stop asking me!"

"Why not? You love Quidditch!"

"I _loved _Quidditch; there's a big difference."

"But you were so upset when you were banned last year, now you get your old position back and you'd even get to be captain if you wanted to, I'd let you have it back if you changed your—"

"AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

Harry yelled so loud that Ron jumped back from him, surprised. The former took a deep, calming breath, and turned to face his best friend.

"Ron, for the last time: I DO NOT WANT TO PLAY QUIDDITCH. I have more important things to do than chase around some stupid ball. It's been two months, what makes you think that I'm going to change my mind now?"

"I was hoping that you'd see how bad our team is without you," grumbled Ron. Harry snorted.

"Oh please. I only played one game last year and you all still won the cup without me. You've done it before and you'll do it again; I'm not the only person on the team who can play, you know."

"But that was when Ginny was seeker," insisted Ron. "Now that she's chaser we've had to pick _another_ new seeker, and that Stacy Pollup isn't even as good as Ginny was, let alone you."

"Ron, I appreciate it, I do. But I need to spend all the time that I can studying Occlumency and working on the DA and everything. I thought you understood that."

"I understand that you have to do that, yes, but I don't understand why you can't have a little fun as well. And you've come really far in Occlumency, even Lupin said that you've made a lot of improvement. And Hermione agrees with me that you should have some fun—"

"I don't have time for fun, I have a war to fight."

With that Harry turned and stormed up the stairs to the dorm room. He was so sick of Ron's constant complaints that he should rejoin the Quidditch team. He had considered it the first time Ron asked him, right after try-outs and they had all seen the losers that had shown up, but later that night Harry had had another vision, this one of Voldemort torturing some poor girl until her parents agreed to be Death Eaters. Then Harry had resolved to work even harder on Occlumency, practicing it whenever he had time. That had lead to a drastic change in Harry's accomplishments, which had pleased Lupin. For two months he had worked almost non-stop, taking time out for the DA and homework.

Harry sighed and plopped down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. He wished that he could take Ron up on his offer, rejoin the Quidditch team, and forget about Voldemort. But he couldn't. No more could he stand to sit by and watch innocent people die because he was too busy having fun. Despite what he had told Fred and George two years ago, he no longer felt that laughter was a key part to this war. Laughing had only lost people lives. That wasn't going to happen anymore. He wouldn't let it.

xxx

"I'm worried about Harry."

"Oh Ron," sighed Hermione, "we all are. I don't know what's gotten into him. I mean, he was fine for a while, but then, I dunno. I want to help him, but I don't know what to do. Lupin's tried talking to him, we've tried talking to him. God, even Luna's tried it. Nothing works!"

"He just told me that he didn't have time for fun because he had a war to fight. He's acting like he has to fight this thing all by himself or something."

Hermione looked at Ron with a slight frown on her face. "He's always been like that. Taking on more than he can handle's not really a new subject to him or anything. I mean, everything that he's done the past few years has been a result of him doing something dangerous that should have been left to the adults. But he's always managed to end up on top in the end, well, most of the time anyway; I'm sure he'll be fine now."

There was something about the tone in Hermione's voice that told Ron that she was trying to convince herself as much as him, which is why he remained silent and set to work on his Charms' essay.

xxx

As soon as Harry walked into the Room of Requirement everyone settled down and looked at him expectedly, awaiting instructions. Harry made his way to the front of the room, deciding that he was never going to get used to everyone quieting down when he entered the room; it was still too weird, even after all this time. He mentally shook his head to clear it and then looked around at everyone assembled there.

"I'm glad that you all made it this evening. I'm pleased to inform you that everyone can now successfully perform every spell that we learned last year as well as the new ones we've learned this year. I've spoken to Fred and George and they've informed me that the lower years are catching up as well. This is good news for everyone. And, because everyone's been working so hard on learning those spells, I thought we'd have another stab at something that I know you've all been looking forward to for a while."

"Patronuses?" yelled out one person hopefully. There was some muttered agreement before everyone looked to Harry, who smiled and nodded.

"That's correct. Now, I would like the old members to wait patiently for a few minutes while I explain to the new members what to do..." After all questions were answered Harry turned his attention back to the group as a whole. "Now, patronuses are very advanced magic. It took me the best of six months under the tutelage of Professor Lupin before I could do it properly. Don't be discouraged if you can't do it at first; just be sure to concentrate hard on that happy memory and keep trying. Make sure it's the happiest memory you have, otherwise you might be making it harder for yourself. So, any questions?"

None.

"Alright. Before you start, I thought a demonstration might be helpful." Everyone started whispering excitedly. Harry walked over to a suitcase that he had previously borrowed from Lupin and placed in a corner. As he brought it to the front of the room he said, "Professor Lupin has been so kind as to find a boggart for us to use. Now, when it sees me, it's going to assume the shape of a dementor. I don't want any of you to panic, it won't hurt you—"

"That's a big thing to promise, wouldn't you say, Potter?" sneered a voice from behind him. Harry spun around and felt his stomach drop. Five Death Eaters had seemingly appeared there, all masked, although Harry could tell it was Lucius Malfoy who had spoken. Harry raised his wand and spoke in a calm, collected tone to the others.

"Okay, everybody, Death Eaters have arrived. I would suggest getting your wands ready to fight or else getting the hell outta here as fast as you can and getting either Professor Dumbledore or any of the others who are supposed to be guarding this school."

Everyone-or almost everyone, immediately scrambled to get out of the room. In the commotion, no one seemed to notice Malfoy raise his wand; no one except Harry.

"Stupefy!"

"Protego!"

Harry reflected Malfoy's curse and the Death Eater dodged it easily.

"You thought that you'd send me to Azkaban without any consequences, did you, Potter? Well you've got a lot to learn. Stupefy!"

Harry was so caught up in his battle with the five Death Eaters surrounding him that he didn't notice that more were appearing. He didn't notice that while he was keeping the others busy, the DA members, despite all their training, pelted out of the room as fast as they could, with the exception of those who had accompanied Harry into the Department of Mysteries. They started dueling with some of the arriving Death Eaters as well, but there were too many. As Harry dodged another curse aimed at him he saw the others still in the room.

"Get out of here!" he yelled at them, fear spreading through his body as he saw how many more Death Eaters there were than he had realized. In his desperation to get them out of the room, he never saw the book that came soaring towards him, thrown by one of the masked Death Eaters. Thus he didn't realize that anything had hit him until he felt a tug behind his navel.

xxx

As soon as Harry had vanished Ron and the others stopped fighting, as did the Death Eaters. The former stopped out of shock; the latter because their job was done. Although several seemed inclined to take the others with them, they were content to simply stun them and vanish with a single muttered word. "Portus."

xxx

Colin Creevey raced down the hall as fast as his legs could carry him. Once he reached his destination he slammed into the door and started banging with all his might. The door opened to reveal one irate Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Creevey, what do you mean by banging on my door—"

"Death Eaters are in the Room of Requirement," Colin shouted before she could finish her sentence. He saw her face pale considerably.

"Thank you, Mr. Creevey," she muttered. "Get back to your dormitory, and tell anyone you meet on your way to do the same." Then she took off running as fast as a woman her age could, pulling a necklace out from under her shirt as she went.

xxx

Lupin and Moody were in the former's office when the necklaces around both of their necks started to grow hot. They took them out in time to hear McGonagall's voice whispering urgently, "Death Eaters in the Room of Requirement."

The two ran off towards the seventh floor. (a/n: I don't know if it really is that floor.)

xxx

Dumbledore and Snape were in the middle of a very serious chess game. Snape rolled his eyes as Dumbledore went to make his sixth irrelevant move of the game. He was about to comment when the band around his neck started to burn. He took it out and saw the headmaster do the same. The same words that Lupin and Moody had heard flooded the office as well. They took off at a run as well.

xxx

Fred and George were in the middle of a serious event as well, although not as serious as the headmaster's chess game. These two were debating with their mother over their joke shop. They were trying to tell her how important it was to them when their matching chokers started to burn. All three people in the room hurried to the Room of Requirement as soon as the message was finished.

xxx

Professor McGonagall was the first to arrive, closely followed by Lupin and Moody. They saw that several pictures had been knocked down, their owners taking refuge in nearby paintings, scowling at the Transfiguration professor and muttering about rowdy children. Several members were unconscious on the floor. Deciding that they had more pressing matters to attend to, the three raced inside and gasped.

xxx

Dumbledore and Snape reached the room seconds after the Weasleys did. They all entered to find the other order members staring at the middle of the room in defeat.

xxx

"Ennervate."

Ron opened his eyes. He was closely followed by Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna. They looked around quickly, expecting, like the others had, to find Harry and several Death Eaters fighting. What they did not expect was to find the room empty of anyone except for themselves and the members of the order.

"What happened?" asked Ron and Lupin at the same time.

"Harry was about to demonstrate the Patronus Charm when Lucius Malfoy and some other Death Eaters showed up," Hermione told them. "He-Harry-told us to either help fight them or else get out of here as soon as we could, and that someone better get help. We seem to be the only ones that stayed. The last thing I remember is someone muttering 'Stupefy'."

"So it doesn't seem like they were the targets," muttered Lupin, staring at the spot that showed the most signs of a struggle, where Harry was sure to be standing.

"Does that mean that they have Harry?" whispered Ginny.

"It would appear so," stated Dumbledore, his blue eyes missing their usual sparkle. He turned to Snape.

"Severus, you knew nothing of this?"

Snape turned towards the old man. "No, I did not. I knew that they were planning a break out from Azkaban, as I already told you. I also knew that he was plotting with some of the other Death Eaters at the end of a meeting a few months ago. They did not inform me of what it was they were talking about, other than the fact that they were still interested in learning what the prophecy was talking about. I would have told you if they were planning an attack on Hogwarts."

"Yeah, right," muttered Ron quietly, although not quietly enough. As Snape opened his mouth to retaliate the headmaster cut him off.

"That's enough. Ron, I believe Severus. Voldemort does not tell all his Death Eaters all of his plans all the time. He doesn't like for everyone to know what he's up to, for he knows that he can't trust all of them. Also, he likes to spread around his jobs for them to do, so that they can prove themselves. This must have been one of their tests. That's why there were so many Death Eaters. They were to help aid the more faithful Death Eaters in their quest."

"What are they going to do to him?" asked Neville fearfully at the same time that Hermione asked, "Where are they keeping him?"

"Unfortunately, I know the answer to neither of these questions, although we will be working on it. In the meantime, I want all of you to go to your dormitories. Minerva, I would like for you to accompany them to the Gryffindor common room. Tell everyone the truth; that Death Eaters were here and they have taken Harry Potter. If anyone has any information, they can either tell you, myself, or any of the order members, although don't tell them that they're order members. Tell them they're—"

"The people sent to watch the castle," supplied Ginny. "That's what Harry called them.

"Yes, that will do well. Tell them to be very careful from now on, although I don't think that the Death Eaters will return. Fred, George, Molly, you are more than welcome to go with her, or you can return to your rooms. Remus, I ask that you escort Miss Lovegood to her common room and tell them the same thing. Alastor, if you would be so kind as to take care of the Hufflepuffs, and Severus, if you could inform your own house, than we will be all set. I will set to work immediately trying to find out where Harry is. Goodnight, everyone, and do try to get some sleep."

With that Dumbledore turned and walked back to his office. Snape followed suit, heading down towards the dungeons, Moody following close behind.

"Come on," said Lupin quietly to Luna. "Let's get you to your rooms." He inclined his head to everyone else. "Get some rest."

"Goodnight," they whispered solemnly.

"I'm going to my room," said Mrs. Weasley. She had tears in her eyes.

"He's not dead, Molly," said McGonagall softly. Mrs. Weasley nodded and left.

"Let's get going," said McGonagall to the rest of them. She turned to Fred and George. "Are you two coming with us or not?"

"We'll come," said Fred. George nodded.

"Then let's get this over with."

xxx

Quite unexpectedly, Harry felt his feet slam into the ground and fell forward. The surrounding Death Eaters laughed. One of them pulled him to his feet and half dragged, half carried him towards a door. Harry immediately began to struggle. He felt the Death Eater's grasp tighten and he reached for his wand. A nearby Death Eater cried, "Expelliarmus!" and Harry, despite his best efforts, felt his w

wand fly out of his hand. He continued to struggle until he heard someone shout, "Stupefy!" Then the world went dark.

When Harry awoke he found himself bound and gagged in a chair. He was facing an even bigger chair, practically a throne, surrounded by Death Eaters. They seemed to be excited. Harry tried to look around, but found that he was tied too tightly to turn his head more than an inch on either side. The Death Eaters laughed as he struggled to get out of the ropes binding him to the chair.

"No need Harry," laughed a high, cold voice. "You'll be leaving shortly. That is, if you give me the information I want."

Harry looked up into Voldemort's cold red eyes and forced a laugh. "Yeah right. I tell you what you want to know and you'll just send me on my way home will you?" he asked, mirroring what he said to Lucius Malfoy in the Department of Mysteries.

"I said you'd be leaving; I didn't say how. And you will be returning to Hogwarts, I promise you. It's just too bad that you won't be alive to see it. And that's really too bad, for I imagine the looks on their faces when they realize that their hero's dead would be priceless."

Harry narrowed his eyes in hatred as the Death Eaters laughed. In truth he was scared, but if he had learned anything the past few years, it was never let your enemy know when you're scared. Now that he had learned Occlumency, or at least was a lot better at it, it should be harder for Voldemort to find out his true feelings. At least he hoped so.

"Now, Harry, this can work one of two ways. The first way, the one that I'm sure you would prefer, is that you can tell me the prophecy and I will kill you now. I'll use Avada Kedavra, so it will be fast and, as far as I know, painless. Then I can send your body back to Hogwarts and I'll go on my way and you'll be reunited with that mangy godfather of yours.

"The second way, which is a lot more fun for me than it is for you, is that you can be the stubborn brat that you're known to be, and refuse to tell me. In that case, I'll be forced to use the Cruciatus curse on you until you do tell. And believe me, you will. No one has ever refused anyone who has used the Cruciatus and lived to tell about it. For you will live; I do believe you have seen the marvelous job my Bella did on the Longbottoms. You can go that was as well, if you prefer. I think it would probably a lot more fun to see the looks on everyone's faces when you turn up like that, but the choice is up to you. Tell me and die quickly, or refuse and spend your last memorable moments in severe pain. Chose."

Harry looked away from those gleaming red eyes. He didn't know what to do. He knew that he couldn't tell Voldemort the prophecy; that was out of the question. Sirius had died defending both Harry and the prophecy, there was no way that Harry was going to tell Voldemort that now. And if he told him while he was here in this chair then there was no reason for Voldemort to keep him alive, and would surely keep his word and kill him. Harry couldn't let that happen. He would have to wait it out under the Cruciatus curse for as long as he could stand, and pray that someone from the order come in time. He just hoped that none of the others would hurt. Upon hearing Voldemort clear his throat as an indicator to hurry up with an answer, Harry blinked and looked once more into Voldemort's eyes.

"Go to hell."

**Chapter 12: Worry**

Whispers broke out through every common room as soon as the order members were out of the way. Those that weren't in the DA were shocked and scared that Death Eaters had shown up at Hogwarts. Those that were in the DA now felt ashamed that they had all run and not tried to help out in some way. The only common room that was indifferent about the entire situation was the Slytherin common room, which remained quiet save a few gasps. Most looked smug.

"I can't believe that they took Harry," whispered a fearful Parvati Patil back in the Gryffindor common room. She was one of the many gathered around the four people (not counting Luna, since she's a Ravenclaw) who had remained behind to help.

"Maybe they wouldn't have if you all hadn't been the biggest bunch of cowards this side of France," retorted Ron, who whole-heartedly blamed Harry's capture on those that had run away.

"Ron," warned Hermione.

"No," snapped Ron. "The whole point of the DA was to teach people so that they could defend themselves against You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters. That's why Harry's been spending so much time pouring over books, so that he can learn how to do something so that he can teach us. And what thanks does he get? The one time that he really needs people to help back him up, and to show off what they've learned, they all back out. A bunch of friends you all turned out to be."

And without another word Ron stormed up to his room and slammed the door shut behind him. Everyone around them remained silent for a few moments. Then Neville turned to Hermione.

"I'll go talk to Ron," he told her, and left. Hermione simply nodded, willing the tears in her eyes not to fall.

"McGonagall's right, you know," Ginny whispered quietly. "He's not dead." Hermione raised her head to look at Ginny, a few tears falling despite her attempts to stop them.

"I know. But they're Death Eaters. Just think of what they're probably doing to him as we speak..." Hermione trailed off, not allowing herself to speak. A part of her knew that it was wrong to bring other's hopes down along with her own, but another part wanted them to understand how bad Harry was probably feeling right now, as opposed to thinking that he was just fine. She wanted them to realize how much Harry had risked for them, and, deep down, she agreed with Ron that the DA, including themselves, had failed Harry.

xxx

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, in a dark room, Voldemort began to pace.

"You do realize that you're just making this harder on yourself, right?" he asked, in a voice of mocked concern. Harry, lying trembling on the floor, just ignored him. He took several deep, calming breaths, and attempted to stop shaking. He had been under the Cruciatus curse for god only knew how long. In reality it had been ten minutes; to Harry it felt like a lifetime.

"Fine," snapped Voldemort, growing impatient due to Harry's lack of response. "We'll continue on my way. You're in for a long night, Potter. Crucio."

And so it continued. On and off for the next six hours Harry was placed under the Cruciatus curse. He would be placed under it for approximately ten to twenty minutes at a time, occasionally being placed under it for half an hour when Voldemort would get really frustrated.

Still Harry refused to tell, although his body was begging him to. He tried to focus on something else to get his mind off the pain. For a while he observed Voldemort, and what he called him. he began to realize that whenever Voldemort was really pissed at him, he would call him 'Potter'. When he was pretending to be his friend or was humoring him, he would call him 'Harry'. He didn't really know which name he preferred.

Whenever he noticed that Harry was slipping off into unconsciousness, Voldemort would mutter "Ennervate" and continue on as though nothing had happened. It was near dawn by the time Voldemort finally gave up and gave the order for him to be lead down to a dungeon. Harry was too exhausted to even try to fight back. He felt himself be thrown to the floor and heard a door behind him being shut, locked, and cursed. Too tired to even look around, Harry fell asleep.

xxx

"Severus, is there any place that you can think of as to where they might be keeping Harry?" asked Dumbledore gravely.

"None, Headmaster. I have already searched most of the old places that he used to be at, and there was nothing there. I know for a fact that he mentioned that he had found a better place to meet, but he had yet to tell us where it was."

"Where had you been staying previously?" asked Lupin.

Snape rolled his eyes. "For the last time, we were meeting either in the graveyard that Potter escaped from the last time, or else the house on the hillside. His father lived there or something. Anyway, as I already mentioned, I've searched the entire house. I haven't seen one shred of evidence that Potter is in that house."

"Alright," said Dumbledore. "I think that the best that we can do for now is to continue on and wait for Severus to figure out where he is. Until then, there's nothing that we can do to help him."

"You mean that Harry's fate lies in the hands of _him?"_ Fred asked, horrified, pointing to Snape. The latter just glared at him.

"I trust Severus," Dumbledore stated in a firm voice. Then he ushered them out of his office, leaving himself and Snape alone. As they left the room, Fred and George glared suspiciously at Snape. They weren't the only ones, either: Moody gave him a very cold stare as he left the room; Lupin looked tired; Mrs. Weasley looked just plain sad.

"Albus, if they do show me where Potter is, what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to risk myself as a spy to save one child? I realize that he is the boy who lived and everything, but I don't think that it's right to place one person's life above so many others."

"Nor do I Severus," said Dumbledore, turning and walking towards the shelf on which he had placed his penseive. "Nor do I. But Harry isn't just any child; he is very important to this war. Now, what I am about to show you, Voldemort can never figure out."

"Albus," started Snape angrily but Dumbledore cut him off.

"I know what you're going to say, and no, I don't think that you're working for Voldemort. All I'm saying is that this isn't one of those things that you can sacrifice telling him to gain his trust, understand?"

"Fine," muttered Snape through gritted teeth. He watched as Dumbledore raised his wand to his temple and withdrew a memory. The old man placed it in the stone basin and let it lay there for a moment. Then a figure with hugely magnified eyes began to elevate.

xxx

"So, how did you enjoy last night, Harry?" Voldemort asked the small figure that was being held up by several Death Eaters. Harry forced himself to raise his head and look once again into Voldemort's eyes. No matter what they did to him, he vowed, he wouldn't beg or show any sign of weakness.

Hours later, as Harry was unceremoniously flung into his cell, he realized that his plan wasn't going to work entirely. No matter how strong his mind was, he was unable to keep his head up while he was being tortured. Harry sighed and struggled to find a comfortable position in which to lay down. Giving up, he rested his head on the hard, damp floor and closed his tired eyes. While he couldn't physically hide his weaknesses from Voldemort, there was no way that he was going to tell him the prophecy. He kept telling himself that in his head over and over again. _Don't tell them the prophecy...don't tell them the prophecy..._It was quickly becoming a mantra in his head. Those were the words that he was muttering when sleep finally met up with him.

xxx

"It's been a month, Severus. When is he going to call you?"

"For the last time, Lupin, I do not control when he wishes to see us. Until he calls, I won't know where to go, hence I don't know where Potter is. I can't simply demand to see him."

"Thank you for your time."

Snape sighed as Lupin turned and left the room. He knew the werewolf wasn't being infuriating on purpose, but at the same time he wondered how anyone could expect to keep the school calm with the teachers bustling about, attempting to keep everyone's mind off of Harry and at the same time keep knocking on his door every five minutes trying to see if the Dark Lord had called him yet.

_Damn that Potter,_ thought Snape darkly. _Even when he's not here he drives me crazy. _

It was then, as he reached for his glass of firewhiskey, that he felt it: the mark that had been branded into his left forearm was starting to burn. Without hesitating, Snape snatched up a handful of Floo powder from a pot on his desk and whirled it into the fireplace. "Dumbledore!"

"Severus, my boy, what can I do for you?" the headmaster asked in that ever-cheerful voice of his. How that man could manage to still smile with Voldemort out and about with the wizarding world's savior in his arms was a mystery to Snape. All he knew was that he had approximately two minutes to be by the Dark Lord's side or there would be hell to pay.

"He's calling."

"Thank you for telling me. You had better go." Both left without another word. Dumbledore pulled his head out of the fire and stood up in his office. Snape flung more Floo powder into the fire, this time transporting himself to some store in Hogsmeade so that he could Apparate to Voldemort. It wasn't until he found himself alongside Lucius Malfoy that he realized that Dumbledore had never told him what to do regarding Potter.

Only years of spying for the order kept Snape from gasping at the sight of Harry Potter as two Death Eaters flung him to the floor in front of Voldemort. The boy was clearly exhausted, both mentally and physically. He was taking deep, ragged breaths, and he had cuts and bruises all over his body. His clothes were in tatters. He was dangerously underweight, and hadn't showered in weeks. It took a moment for Snape to realize that he actually felt _sorry _for Harry Potter.

"I'm glad that you all have found the new place," sneered Voldemort. "I know that it's been a while, but I trust that you all have been upholding my plans nicely. Nott, have you..."

Harry was only dimly aware that Voldemort was talking above him. Somewhere in his mind, he registered that there were a lot more Death Eaters present than there had been at any other point, and that they must be at some sort of meeting. It never occurred to him that Snape was there.

Meanwhile, the potions professor in question was staring down at the almost lifeless body of Harry Potter with shock clearly written on his face. He was grateful for the mask that he was forced to hide behind, for if the Dark Lord saw the look on his face he would be in big trouble. As Voldemort continued to walk around the interior of the circle, Snape forced his eyes away from Harry and followed Voldemort's passage. He was sure to incline his head as far down as possible when Voldemort turned to face him.

"Does Dumbledore know where Potter is or what we're doing to him?"

"No, My Lord. He knew that you were probably still interested in the prophecy, and that you had several Death Eaters show up at one of their little defense meetings and take the boy. Other than that, they have no idea what's going on." _Nor do I, _Snape finished silently to himself.

"Yes, and that brings us to our next topic for discussion. The prophecy. I know that it regards myself and Potter, and that it's very important, otherwise Dumbledore would not have worked so hard to protect it, and Potter would have given in long ago."

Voldemort turned to stand directly over Harry, looking down at him before addressing his Death Eaters once more. "As some of you may know, I have had this boy under my care for the past month. He has been continually placed..."

xxx

"...under the Cruciatus Curse, Albus," Snape informed him as soon as he returned from the meeting that night. Lupin, McGonagall, and the rest of the order that was staying at Hogwarts gasped in shock and horror.

"And you didn't get him out of there?" demanded Fred.

"Just how was I supposed to do that?" asked Snape coldly. "Just walk over to the Dark Lord and politely ask if I can return Potter to Hogwarts? Or perhaps storm over and demand that Potter be released? Are you really that stupid? If I had done anything to get Potter out of there, we would have both been killed and you'd never even know what had happened until he had arrived in the Great Hall the following day."

"The Great Hall?" asked Moody, confused.

Snape sighed and continued to reveal what he had found out. "That's his plan. He's going to continue to torture Potter until he tells him the prophecy. Then he's going to kill him and send his body to Hogwarts so that everyone can see what happens when you go against him."

"Harry's been under the Cruciatus for a month?" asked Mrs. Weasley quietly.

"Not straight, but yes. He gets placed under it for about twenty minutes at a time, depending on how frustrated the Dark Lord gets. Then they take breaks in between, so that Potter won't..." Snape inwardly debated with himself for a moment before deciding to continue, "so that he won't go insane as the Longbottoms did. The Dark Lord wants Potter as sane as possible when he finally kills him."

"And what happens if Harry doesn't give in?" asked Lupin, looking more weary than ever.

Snape sighed. "I don't know. I have a feeling that he is growing impatient with Potter's stubbornness. I think that if Potter doesn't give in soon than the Dark Lord's going to kill him anyway."

There was silence as the words washed over everyone.

"What are we going to do?" asked George. All eyes turned towards Dumbledore.

"I don't want to lose my best spy. But that is preferable to losing Harry. Severus, you are to remain here, away from Voldemort and his Death Eaters. We will go to this place and get Harry out of there."

"And how is that going to work?" demanded Snape, not following where the headmaster was going with this. "If you go and remove him from there and I'm stuck hiding at Hogwarts it's going to be obvious that I sold them out. If you allow me to continue attending meetings, then he would have to guess which of us is a spy. That would take him longer and would offer us more information for the time being."

Dumbledore seemed to be considering these words. Before the older man had a chance to respond Snape broke in with a proposal.

"Give me one more meeting. He told us that he would await another week before calling us again. He won't kill Potter until then; he's the sort of 'person' that likes to show off. If Potter does crack before then, which I'm not entirely sure that he will, then he'll call us immediately and then proceed to kill him. I have my order band on me. If, for some reason, he does decide to kill Potter before I have a chance to get him out of there, then I will summon you all to the location for backup."

The others seemed hesitant about waiting so long to get Harry out of that death trap, but as they could see no other alternative, they agreed. Some were more reluctant than others.

**Chapter 13: Unexpected Heroes**

True to his word, a week later Voldemort summoned all of his Death Eaters to him. Without hesitating to contact Dumbledore as he had before, Snape ran towards the pot on the desk and grabbed a handful of Floo powder at the same moment that he pulled the order pendant out from around his neck. He pulled it towards his mouth and muttered, "It's time," before throwing a handful of powder into the fire and disappearing to join Voldemort.

As soon as Snape reached Voldemort he knew that this would be the night that Potter died, unless he did something to save him. The Death Eaters seemed apprehensive, and Voldemort seemed more agitated than usual. Potter was nowhere to be seen – yet. Snape stood in his spot beside Malfoy and watched the other members fill in the spots around them. Once everyone was there Voldemort turned to the group, inspected them all quickly, before starting.

"Today will be the last of several different things," he began. "Since term ended yesterday, I want any Death Eater who has a child at least fifteen years of age to have said child attend the next meeting with them. They will earn their right to be a Death Eater. Then they will be marked. Thus, the end of child-free meetings. Anyone the age of fifteen should have already grown up – and should consider it an honor to be asked to join me.

"The next thing that will come to an end is all the fun that I have been having with Potter for the past few weeks. No matter what I have done to him –I even put him back under the Dementomins Curse – the boy refuses to tell me that damn prophecy that Dumbledore told him. I know that he knows, and that if he won't tell me than someone else will. He has served his purpose. Now I will kill him."

As Snape made to activate his pendant in order to inform the Order that now was the time to react, Voldemort turned to him.

"Severus." Snape instinctively dropped his hand to his side and stood up straight.

"Yes, My Lord?" he asked calmly.

"I would like for you and Lucius to go and retrieve Potter from his little cell. Lucius knows where it is. Do not do anything to him. If he is asleep – which I doubt – or unconscious – the much more likely option – don't wake him. I highly doubt that he'll be able to fight back, but I would like to do those honors myself. Go now, and hurry back."

"Yes, Master," they both answered, bowing their heads and turning to follow his orders. Snape couldn't believe how lucky he was; he was to retrieve Potter. Voldemort was in the other room. Now all he had to do was get Lucius out of the way. But first he had to find out where Potter was.

"So, Severus. Are you jealous that our master asked me to retrieve Potter and not you?" sneered Malfoy.

"In case you haven't noticed, I am standing right beside you and we are both going to get Potter," retorted Snape, even though he knew that wasn't what Lucius was referring to.

"No, I mean, are you jealous that he didn't ask you to help remove Potter from Hogwarts?" continued Malfoy.

"Not really," replied Snape in a bored voice. "He knew that it would be too dangerous, and might risk me looking like a spy."

"You are a spy," Malfoy pointed out

"You know that and I know that. But the order doesn't know that, do they? They think that I'm spying for them. Use your head sometimes," scolded Snape, ignoring the look on Malfoy's face at being yelled at by a man seven years younger than he was.

Both remained silent until they reached Potter's cell. Snape waited until Malfoy stepped inside first, just in case there was some kind of ward over the doors that he wasn't aware of. Sure enough, it took several minutes until Malfoy had undone all of the wards around the door, although Snape didn't see the need to have any of them there at all. He supposed that they were just there as a safety precaution because of all the other times that Potter had escaped, which, under normal circumstances, would have made sense. Now, however, Potter was so out of it that he couldn't have escaped even if all the wards were down. That was what worried Snape. Well, that and the fact that he was worried about Potter. When he remembered the reason that he suddenly started to care about the insufferable brat, he silently cursed.

That prophecy. Potter was the only one who could kill Voldemort. Only when Voldemort was dead could Snape possibly try to live a normal life. He hated having to depend on a Potter, _famous _Harry Potter none the less, but he had no other options. That was why it pained him so much to see Potter, severely underweight, with dark circles around his eyes that were clamped shut with tear stains running down his face. Snape wondered why the boy hadn't said anything to Voldemort earlier, when he still had his strength. He had heard that Potter was excelling in Occlumency now, therefore he couldn't fathom why Potter didn't simply tell him some other prophecy.

His thoughts were brought to an end by Lucius, who was stepping over Potter, not seeming the least bit sorry when he "accidentally" kicked the boy in the head. What scared Snape was the fact that Potter hardly even acknowledged the kick. He whimpered a little, but that was it. Taking a deep breath, Snape pulled out his wand and, before Malfoy could turn back around from stepping over Potter, Snape shouted, "Stupefy!"

Instinctively, Malfoy turned around to face his attacker, but he was too late. The curse hit him square in the chest, and he fell backwards, away from Harry. Snape quickly walked over to the boy on the ground and dropped to his knees.

"Potter? Potter? Can you hear me?" he asked quickly but urgently. When he didn't get so much as a nod from Potter, Snape knew that attempting to assure him that he would be alright would be a waste of time. Right now he had to get out of here before Voldemort wondered what was taking them so long.

He wanted to Apparate, but he couldn't not with Potter. He knew that it was possible for a group to Apparate, even if one of the members wasn't of age yet, but it was too dangerous, and since Potter was in such a bad condition and Snape had never attempted it before, the potions master felt that it would be best if he could activate a Portkey for Potter to touch. He immediately looked around the hallway leading to Potter's cell. He couldn't see anything there that could be used as a Portkey.

Cursing, he grabbed the order pendant from around his neck and did something that you were never supposed to do: He took it off. He pointed his wand at it and muttered, "Portus." Then he made sure that Potter had at least a finger on it. In the distance, he thought that he heard footsteps advancing towards them. Heart-racing, Snape quickly muttered, "one...two...three."

And they were gone


	4. Chapters 14 to 16

**Chapter 14: Return**

Snape's feet slammed onto the floor of the Infirmary. Harry landed right next to him, and immediately toppled over to the ground. He would have hit the floor had it not been for the potions professor standing right next to him, who was able to grab him before he caused himself more pain. Snape quickly lifted Harry in his arms and carried him to the nearest bed while screaming for Madame Pomfrey.

At first the nurse looked a little angry at being awoken so rudely this late at night, but when she saw who it was she immediately lost her furious look to adopt a more concerned look. She pushed Snape aside and set to work on her patient. Snape stepped back and looked down at the pendant still clasped in his hand. He pulled it to his lips and said, "Potter's in the Infirmary."

He put the charmed item back around his neck. As he did so, he felt the Dark Mark on his arm begin to burn. Grabbing onto it painfully, he knew that the Dark Lord had found out about Potter's absence, and since Lucius was stunned on the floor, there was going to be no surprise as to who had taken the boy.

Snape sighed and started to absentmindedly rub his arm, watching the nurse distressing over Potter. She was careful not to cause the boy more pain than he was already in, moving him only as much as needed to check him over. It wasn't five minutes since they had arrived when the hospital wing doors burst open to reveal a very large, very _loud _group of people. Snape saw that it included every order member at Hogwarts, both younger Weasleys, Granger, and Longbottom. Snape mentally sighed; he should have known such a large group would show up.

"Severus, what happened? Is he alright?" Dumbledore asked before anyone else could speak. They all looked anxiously over at Harry. Mrs. Weasley choked back a sob when she saw what a terrible state her surrogate son was in.

"The Dark Lord ordered Lucius and me to remove Potter from his cell and bring the boy to him so that he could kill him. I was going to get all of you there so that it wouldn't look obvious that I was the spy, but Lucius would have heard something and told the Dark Lord anyway. Besides, I felt that it would be easier for me to take Potter back here than wait for you all to show up; in the amount of time it was bound to take you to get there the dark lord would most likely already have Potter, and you might be too late. I didn't have much of a choice. I stunned Lucius and activated a Portkey to bring us here."

When Snape finished everyone in the group was either looking at him or Harry. Everyone under eighteen were looking at Harry. Everyone over eighteen was looking at Snape, obviously trying to think of something to say. Dumbledore recovered first.

"So Voldemort knows that you're the spy." It wasn't a question but Snape answered anyway.

"Yes."

Dumbledore sighed and walked over to Madame Pomfrey, who had left Harry's side to talk to the large group before her.

"It's not good, headmaster," she answered honestly. When she saw the look on everyone's faces she hastened to add, "He will recover." Everyone relaxed. "It's just going to take some time. He hasn't eaten or drunken anything for over a month, and he has been under prolonged torture for just as long. It will take a good while before he is as he was before."

"He was placed back under Dementomins," Snape informed them quietly. They all looked even more crestfallen at that.

"We have to treat his physical injuries before we can even think about dealing with the psychological ones," Madame Pomfrey told them. "Professor Snape, may I ask you to brew some more Dreamless Sleep and nutritive potions, please. I have some, but not nearly enough to deal with what Harry's going to have to need."

"Of course," he replied curtly, and turned to leave the room. He was halfway to the door when the headmaster called him back.

"You did well," was all that he said. Snape nodded to show acknowledgement, then left the room. Dumbledore turned back to the group.

"I'm afraid that, even though the holidays have started, Harry is still not going to be safe here. We will have to increase the wards around the school so that no Portkeys will be allowed unless I make it, and so on. During that time, I think it would be best if Harry return to headquarters for the holidays." Upon seeing nearly everyone open their mouths to protest, the headmaster continued. "Anyone who wishes to accompany him may do so. Just keep in mind that he will need peace and quiet if he is to convalesce from this encounter."

"I'm going with Harry," said Ron instantly. Hermione and the rest of the Weasleys nodded in agreement.

"I'm going, too," said Neville in a small voice.

"I'm not leaving his side," said Lupin forcefully, looking over at the fragile young man lying feet away from him, an inch from death.

"It's settled, then. You will leave in the morning. I think that it is best that we let Harry rest for at least one night before attempting to relocate him," Dumbledore told them.

"Can we stay with him?" asked Hermione.

Dumbledore nodded. "Anyone who wishes may stay in the hospital wing tonight. But please get a bed and get some rest; you will do Harry no good if you don't get any rest. Have a good night. I will see you all in the morning. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a potions master to attend to." With that Dumbledore exited the hospital wing.

XXX

The door to Snape's rooms burst open and the owner stepped inside, slamming the door shut behind him and adding just about every protection and warning spell he could think of on it. When he was satisfied that no one could enter and he would be alerted if anyone came within ten feet of his door, he turned and headed towards the cupboard where he kept his potion supplies. Then he set to work creating the potions that Madame Pomfrey needed.

A few minutes later the wards went off in his head, alerting him that someone was coming by. Assuming that it was Voldemort come to kill him, he gripped his wand firmly and walked to the door, preparing to attack him the second he saw him. He felt his wand drop to his side as he opened the door to reveal Professor Dumbledore.

"Headmaster," nodded Snape, sounding tired. "To what do I owe this pleasure? Surely you're more concerned with Potter at the moment?"

"The Weasleys are looking out for him, he should be fine for the time being. You, on the other hand-"

"Albus, I'm fine," snapped Snape, turning back to his potion after Dumbledore had shut the door.

"You made the right choice, Severus," said Dumbledore gently.

"How can you say that?" demanded Snape, turning his back on the potion once more to glare at the headmaster. "I was supposed to warn you all that it was time and then you would get Potter out of there. That way he would never have known that I was the spy. Now you have no way to get information out of him."

"I cannot disagree with you there," agreed Dumbledore. "However, you did the right thing by taking Harry out of there while it was just you and Lucius. That saved us the trouble of having everyone show up and be outnumbered by Death Eaters and Voldemort."

Snape jumped at the sound of his ex-master's name and turned back to his potion, intending to finish it this time. Dumbledore seemed to realize that now was not a good time to have a long chat with the professor, so he simply said, "I do not regret the decision you made to save Harry. I hope that you don't either. I am moving him to Grimmauld Place tomorrow. I would like for you to accompany him."

"What?" Once again, despite his promise to himself, he turned away from the potion to stare at the headmaster. "What do you need me there for? Surely his fan club will be able to take care of him."

"It's not a matter of his safety."

Snape sighed. He knew that the headmaster was referring to himself. "How long?"

"Just over the holidays, so that I have time to adjust the wards and everything. No Death Eater should have been able to step foot in Hogwarts. I wish for you to remain where you and Harry are safe for the time being. If it were not for the boy's terrible condition I would have him sent back to the Dursleys. But as that is not an option at the moment, he will return to headquarters. You leave tomorrow morning, about ten. Meet us in the hospital wing."

"As you wish."

Dumbledore nodding and left, leaving Snape behind to dump his failed potion and start again on another.

xxx

By ten the next morning, everyone who had agreed to accompany Harry to Grimmauld Place had gathered in the Infirmary. Dumbledore had created several Portkeys to take them all there. The Gryffindors, minus Harry, all grabbed one and waited for the others. Most of the older order members shared one. Snape and Lupin made sure that Harry was able to touch the Portkey. He had not yet woken up, and since they didn't think that he would be able to grasp the Portkey on his own anyway, they decided it would be futile to wake him.

"One...two...three." Everyone in the room immediately felt a tug behind their navel and a moment later they reached Grimmauld Place. Lupin conjured a stretcher and placed Harry on it. After making sure he was securely on there, everyone made their way up to the room in which Harry was going to stay. Everyone, that is, except Snape.

"Severus, I trust that you remember where your room is located?" asked Lupin cordially from his position at the top of the stairs. Seeing Snape nod, he turned and led the way up to a room on the third floor of the house.

"This isn't where we stayed last time," observed Ron.

"No, it's not," agreed Lupin. "However, due to what happened, we felt that it was best that Harry got his own room, at least until he felt better, which might not be for a while."

"Oh," muttered Ron, who had been looking forward to sharing a room with Harry so that he could look out for him without getting in trouble.

Lupin seemed to sense this, for he said, "You will all be allowed to stay with Harry, but remember not to be too loud and don't try to get a reaction out of him. We will eventually make you get out of the room, but for now you can stay. If for some reason he wakes up, make sure that he's alright and get an adult immediately. And I am referring to someone who hasn't just left Hogwarts," Lupin added, seeing Fred and George start to open their mouths.

The next ten minutes were spent getting Harry as comfortable as possible in the large bed. Once that was complete, they set to the task of arranging the furniture (as quietly as possible, of course) so that there would be enough chairs for six people. Mrs. Weasley and Lupin left the children alone and made their way downstairs to make some brunch for them. They had been so concerned about Harry that no one had eaten anything for breakfast and Lupin knew that they would be hungry.

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Mrs. Weasley sadly as she made some sandwiches.

"He'll be fine," said Lupin with as much conviction as he could muster. "He's handled himself before this, he can do it now. Harry's beat the Dementomins curse before, he can do it again. And Severus is an excellent potion maker, he'll be able to make him recover form his injuries."

"I'm flattered that you think that," Snape said sardonically. Mrs. Weasley jumped; she had not realized that they were being listened to. Lupin appeared unabashed by Snape's comment.

"Severus, we were just making something to eat; would you like anything?"

"I'm perfectly capable of making my own food, thank you," replied Snape, stepping away from them and preparing food for himself. While he was making himself a sandwich, Mrs. Weasley left to bring up the tray of food to the group that had taken up residence beside Harry's bed. She returned momentarily and sat down beside Lupin. She had made herself a salad, but she didn't eat it. instead she pushed the lettuce around with her fork, trying not to think about Harry. Unfortunately, there was not much else _to _think about. What did bring her out of her stupor was Snape walking over to sit across from herself and Lupin. Both looked up and stared at Snape while he raised half the sandwich to his mouth. Before he could take a bite, however, he lowered it to glare at the two order members that were staring at him.

"Do you want something or am I really that good-looking that you can't take your eyes away from me?" he snapped sarcastically. Mrs. Weasley blushed and looked back down at her salad. Lupin just shook his head and went back to his untouched food.

"I just thought that you would have gone back down to your room," said Lupin.

"Would you prefer if I did?" asked Snape coldly.

"Not at all, stay."

"I'm glad that I have your blessing."

Deciding that Snape was not in a good mood to joke around (though honestly, when was he in a good mood?), Lupin swallowed a retort and the table remained silent. After a few minutes Mrs. Weasley broke the silence and turned to Snape.

"Was he really under the curse for over a month?" she asked in a voice begging to be told 'no.'

"Yes," replied Snape indifferently. "Not straight, but he was for as long as the Dark Lord felt necessary."

"How did he survive so long without going insane?" questioned Mrs. Weasley. "Didn't the Longbottoms only last for a few hours?"

"They survived for over fourteen hours," Snape informed them. "The reason that Potter lasted so long was because he was not under it for an entire month, it was split up to prevent him from losing his mind." _How many times am I going to have to tell these people this? He wondered._

"Fourteen hours?" asked Mrs. Weasley incredulously. She looked down at her salad and pushed it away from her. Her appetite had, if possible, gotten even smaller. She got up, walked over to Snape, and did something that shocked both of the men in the room: She hugged him. "Thank you so much for getting Harry out of there," she whispered. When she pulled back she saw the potions master looked thoroughly shocked, something that he usually could hide well.

"I didn't have much choice," he replied, getting up and magicing his dish into the sink and turning to leave the room. "I'll be in my rooms. Inform me if Potter needs any other potions besides the ones that I left on the table." Then he left.

"I didn't mean to scare him away," said Mrs. Weasley apologetically to Lupin. "I just wanted to thank him."

"I know," Lupin assured her. "He's just not used to getting thanks."

xxx

"Is he going to wake up anytime soon?" asked Ron from his place beside Harry's bed. "I mean, how long is it going to take for him to wake up?"

"Ron! Now's not the time to get impatient," scolded Hermione, trying to keep her voice low. "Harry's been through so much, let him sleep."

"I was just wondering!" Ron cried in exasperation, he too struggling to keep his voice from becoming too loud.

"Both of you knock it off before you wake Harry up," said Ginny fiercely. That shut both of them up immediately.

"How did he last so long?" asked Neville, unknowingly echoing Mrs. Weasley's question. While the twins thought that Neville was merely curious as they were. The others, however, knew exactly why Neville was curious. they didn't know what to say. Nor, apparently, did anyone else. So they sat there all day, simply staring at Harry. The plate of food lay forgotten on a nearby table.

xxx

It was the same for the next few days. Everyone took turns watching over Harry. They decided to watch him in groups of three, so that everyone would have a chance to rest. They decided that three was the ideal number because that allowed for someone to stay with Harry, someone to go get one of the adults, and someone to go and get the other three that were not watching Harry. The only thing that they argued over was who would go and get the others, and who would stay with Harry.

In Ron, Hermione, and Neville's group, Neville volunteered to go and get the others. After much bickering Hermione agreed that she would be the one to get the adults. In the other group, it was agreed that Ginny would stay with Harry and Fred would get the others while George retrieved the adults.

Twice everyday Snape would appear and force some potions down Harry's throat. At first they were hesitant about allowing that to happen, but after the first fight Mrs. Weasley promised them that if she heard that they had done anything to get in the way of what Snape was trying to do she would send all of them back to Hogwarts. After that they allowed Snape to do what he needed to do. Hermione and Ginny even helped him get Harry to drink it on different occasions, depending on who was in the room at the time.

In the early afternoon Snape would arrive with several different potions designed to give Harry the nutrients that he needed. He also brought potions that were designed to help his body return to normal after what had happened to him. Every evening he would appear with a flask of dreamless sleep potion. At first they wondered why Snape was giving him a potion to help him sleep when he did nothing but sleep, but soon realized that it was to allow him to get better sleep, one that was not plagued with death.

They had been at Grimmauld Place for almost two weeks. It was Ron's groups' turn to watch Harry, and they were doing so. They were discussing some of the recent deaths that had been in the Daily Prophet when they heard someone moan. They looked around at Harry and saw that he was stirring.

"Harry?" asked Hermione cautiously as they all leaned towards him. When he rolled over and continued to moan they sprang into action. Neville sprang to go get the twins and Ginny and Hermione ran to find one of the adults.

Luckily for her, Lupin, Mrs. Weasley, and Snape were all in the kitchen when she got there. They seemed to be in the middle of a discussion when she interrupted. Normally she would have apologized or waited until they were done with their conversation, but that was before she knew that Harry was waking up. "I think that he's starting to wake up!"

All it took were those eight words before everyone got up and quickly followed her back upstairs. Snape even followed them, albeit much more slowly. By the time they got there everyone else had arrived as well. They were all crowded around Harry's bed, muttering to each other.

"I'm glad we didn't go to work today," muttered Fred. His twin nodded in agreement.

"Get out of the way," snarled Snape, stepping closer to the boy on the bed. Lupin and Mrs. Weasley stood on the other side of him.

"Potter? Can you hear me?" asked Snape. The boy remained silent. Snape looked up at Lupin with a 'you try it' look on his face.

Lupin crouched down beside Harry and took one of the younger man's hands in his own. "Come on, Harry. If you can hear me, squeeze my hand." After a moment he felt Harry respond. He almost didn't know that he had gotten a response at all, that was how light the squeeze was.

"Did he do it?" inquired Ron.

"Scarcely, but yes." He turned to Snape. "Are there any potions that he should be taking?"

"Not that I have," responded the potions master in an irritated voice. "He is still far too weak to even squeeze your hand properly. I don't think that there's anything that we can do for him now but continue to wait."

"But term starts again in a few days," Hermione pointed out. "What are we going to do then? Everyone's going to be wondering if we found him yet or not, what are we going to tell them?"

"I believe the headmaster will be talking to you all before term starts. He asked that you all be present the day that we return Potter to the infirmary."

"Did he not think that Harry would recover by then?" asked Ginny.

"I'm sure that he didn't," responded Snape curtly. "He was tortured for over a month with the most painful curse imaginable, deprived of sleep, food, and water. It's amazing that he was able to make any noise at all in less than a month."

With that Snape turned and exited the room, leaving everyone else to stare at him as he left.

"How long should it take for Harry to get better?" asked George.

"I'm not sure," was the only answer Lupin could give them.

xxx

The next few days passed in a haze for everyone staying at Grimmauld Place. They continued to watch Harry in groups and Snape continually forced potions down his throat. It had already become routine to them all. Finally, the day before term arrived. Everyone had portkeyed to the hospital wing, where Harry was now set up in his own private rooms.

"No one is allowed to come in here without my permission," Dumbledore explained. "The piece of parchment that I am going to give each of you will be your key in. It will only let you in and if someone takes it from you it will not let them in. Only those who stayed behind to help him fight will be allowed in to see him. The school will be informed that he is back with us, but is spending some time in recovery. You are not to tell anyone where he was or what they were doing to him. Understood?"

Everyone nodded.

**Chapter 15: Recovery**

It was dark. So dark, that the person lying beside the bed could hardly see more than three feet in front of her, had she been fully awake. She rolled over, trying to get comfortable, and opened her eyes up a little, intending to close them again in a second. Instead, they flew open as they saw a hand moving closer and closer towards her. Instinctively, she jumped to her feet and cried, "Stupefy!"

The other person, caught unaware, was hit by the curse and fell backwards with a loud thump. Mrs. Weasley stood up and raised her wand over the person that she had just cursed. "Lumos," she muttered. When she saw who it was on the floor she nearly screamed again.

"Remus!" she cried, dropping to her knees and quickly muttering the counter curse. As he opened his eyes she reached out and pulled him to his feet. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized as he rubbed the back of his head, where the floor had hit it. "I was asleep, and all I saw was this hand...I thought that it was someone trying to come after Harry, I—"

"Molly, it's okay," Lupin assured her, smiling. "I was just coming to see if you needed someone else to watch him as you went to go to sleep. Turns out I was right."

Molly hung her head, embarrassed. "I was only asleep for a few minutes," she told him. "What time is it?"

"About five in the morning," he told her, making his way over to Harry, who was sleeping on the bed. "Why don't you go and get some sleep, I'll take over from here."

"I don't want to leave him," she said in a small voice, sounding like on of her children.

"Well, then at least go lay down in the hospital wing on one of the beds. That way you'll only be a little bit away from him."

"Fine," she conceded. She walked over to Harry and placed a kiss on his forehead. Then she got up and left the room, after saying goodnight to Lupin.

Once she was gone Lupin lit the lamp beside Harry's bed and looked over in the corner. "Okay, you two, you can come out now."

Shocked, Ron and Hermione took off the invisibility cloak and stepped towards him.

"How did you know we were here?" asked Hermione.

"Hermione, you should know that. Excellent senses of smells we werewolves have."

Hermione flushed and muttered an, "Oh yeah."

"You two should go to bed. We'll call you if anything changes, okay?"

"But we want to stay with him," pouted Ron.

"No, it's late and you two have classes tomorrow. Go back to Gryffindor tower and stay there. If anything changes, you'll be the first to know."

"Yeah, right after everyone else who's with him does," argued Ron.

"Go to bed," said Lupin. His voice was understanding, and yet stern at the same time. "Have a good night's sleep and then you can come back tomorrow, after class."

"Fine," sighed Hermione, echoing Mrs. Weasley. Then she thought of something. "Can we stay in the hospital wing, too?"

"No."

"Why not? You let his mum," she countered.

"Because she does not have class tomorrow. You two need to get back to your dorms. I appreciate that you care so much about Harry, but really, you two aren't going to do him any good if you keep at it like this."

"We'll be back tom-later," Ron told him, throwing the cloak over Hermione and himself. They turned and exited the room. Lupin shook his head and sat down next to Harry.

xxx

Lupin didn't remember falling asleep. All he remembered was waking up. It wasn't a pleasant experience. An arm came out of nowhere, and hit him upside his head. If that hadn't woken him up, the scream that followed would have.

"He's moving!" squealed Ginny.

"You're telling me," muttered Lupin grumpily. Then what Ginny had just said registered. "He's _what?"_

xxx

Someone was shaking him. "Ron, wake up!" the person screamed. Ron moaned and rolled over, ignoring the person. That was, until he heard Neville's next words. "Harry's waking up!"

xxx

Ron got the easy way out. Neville shook him and screamed. Ginny chose a much more twin-like way to wake Hermione up. She was, after all, very upset about having to leave the hospital wing where Harry was in order to wake up these two schmucks. She walked over to the pitcher of water that was sitting next to the table between Hermione's and Parvati's beds. She picked it up and poured the whole thing on Hermione's head.

Immediately, Hermione sprung out of bed, fully awake. She stood in shock for a minute, and then looked over at Ginny. "What the hell was that for?"

You knew you were in trouble when Hermione cussed, since she seldom did it. But at the moment, Ginny didn't care. All she said was, "Hurry up, Harry's waking." Then she tore out of the room. It took a moment for that statement to sink in, and then Hermione was throwing on her clothes as fast as possible, and then tore after Ginny.

xxx

"What's happening with Harry?" Ron demanded as he and Hermione ran towards the hospital wing, Neville running beside them and Ginny sprinting a few feet ahead.

"We were watching him for a few minutes and then he started thrashing around. He hit Lupin in the head on accident," Neville panted.

"Why didn't anyone tell us?" Ron was furious.

"What do you think we're doing, dumbass?" scolded Ginny.

"Why were you there?"

"Well, seeing as how _I _didn't sneak into the hospital wing at three in the morning, I was fully awake around eight, and I decided to check on Harry before I went to class," Ginny informed him as they dashed past a group of Ravenclaws.

xxx

His eyelids felt heavy, so heavy that he was having a hard time opening them. Visions of his mother screaming and pleading flashed before his eyes, closely followed by other images, all just as unpleasant. He started to toss around in a vain attempt to get the image out of his head. When that didn't work, he decided that perhaps opening his eyes would make it go away, even though he didn't remember shutting them. Hesitantly, he opened his eyes to find warm brown ones staring down at him.

"How are you?" asked Lupin from his position right beside the bed. Concern was evident in his voice.

Harry looked around, confused. In addition to Lupin, all the other members of the Order were gathered around the room, even Snape, who was standing over in a corner. Mrs. Weasley was sitting on the edge of his bed, smoothing out his covers. Dumbledore stood at the end of the bed, staring down at Harry with a twinkle in his eyes.

"What happened?" Harry asked, his voice raspy from not being used in so long.

"What do you remember?" Lupin asked him quietly.

Harry thought for a moment. He opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the door flying open to admit Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. Gasping for breath, they pushed themselves forward, towards Harry.

"How – are – you?" panted Ron.

"You're – awake!" squealed Hermione at the same time, out of air as well. Harry couldn't help but smile to himself at how fast they had gotten there. The room in his head, which he had been doing his best to ignore, dimmed the slightest bit.

"He was just about to tell us what he remembered," Mrs. Weasley told them, frowning at them for disrupting.

"What do you remember?" asked Ginny, regaining composure.

"I remember being in the room of requirement, and having the Death Eaters turn up." A sudden thought crossed Harry's mind. "How is the DA? Are they okay, did any of them get hurt?" he asked anxiously.

"Oh, they're fine," snarled Ron. "Don't worry about them, they sure didn't worry about you. After that long of you spending your own time teaching them to defend themselves, when the time comes to use what they've learned to protect you, what did they do? They ran away!"

Harry, detecting the anger that was so evident in Ron's voice, smiled. "Don't worry about it Ron." He coughed in an attempt to clear his throat. "You can't blame them for being scared. No matter how many curses you practice, you can never really be ready for an attack." Harry coughed again and then looked up at his friends. "Thank you for staying, but I would have felt better if I had known that you were safe."

"No way were we going to leave you to take on that many Death Eaters on your own!" exclaimed Ron. Hermione and the others fervently shook their heads in agreement.

"Is that all that you remember?" pushed Dumbledore, ending that argument.

"I remember Voldemort, telling me that he would kill me if I didn't tell him what he wanted to know."

"What did he want to know?" asked Dumbledore gently. He knew, of course, what it was that Voldemort had wanted to know, but he needed to see if Harry remembered.

"The prophecy," Harry told him quietly. Ron and the others looked at each other in confusion.

"What are you talking about? It was smashed when you were pulling Neville up the stairs. How were you supposed to tell him something that you didn't know?"

"I don't know," lied Harry, keeping his head down. "I suppose he thought that I did know it, that's why he was so mad when I wouldn't tell him." He looked up to see Hermione looking at him closely, as though trying to determine if he was keeping something from her. In an attempt to steer the conversation in a different direction, Harry asked, "How long have I been here?"

"You have been _here _for about two weeks. You were rescued a few days into the winter holiday, and you were taken to Grimmauld Place until school started again. You've been asleep for about five weeks."

Harry's eyes widened. He hadn't realized it had been so long. It had been November when they had had their last DA meeting. It was now mid January. Harry shook his head. It was too much to take in.

"How did I get here?" he asked.

He saw Dumbledore exchange a brief glance with Snape, who was still standing in the corner, before Snape said, "Tell him whatever you want." Then the potions professor turned and walked out of the room.

"What was that about?" asked Harry, confused.

"Voldemort decided that you were not going to tell him the prophecy. He told Professor Snape and Lucius Malfoy to go and retrieve you from your cell and bring you to him so that he could kill you. Professor Snape stunned Malfoy and made a Portkey to get you both here," Dumbledore told him.

Harry sat there, stunned. Snape had saved him? Why? He hadn't owed his father anything, anymore. An idea struck Harry. "Does that mean that Voldemort knows that he's a spy?"

"Yes," answered Dumbledore.

Harry felt terrible. All those times that Hermione had said that he was really a spy for them Harry had told her that she was wrong. And even when he hadn't been the one to say it, Ron had, and Harry had always agreed with him. But now, Snape had not only saved him, but given up his job for the Order. He couldn't imagine him doing that, it just wasn't like him. It was so not like Snape, that Harry couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure?"

"Positive." That time Lupin answered.

Harry didn't know what to say. He looked down at his hands for a minute. When it became apparent that no one was about to say anything, he cleared his throat and asked, "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Well," answered Lupin, "you are physically capable of doing whatever you were able to do before this all happened. But I think that it would be best if you stayed here for a couple of days, so that you can get your energy back. You might not agree, but I think it's for the best."

Harry thought about what he just said. It was true, he didn't feel very energetic, and with the constant flashes of his parents, Sirius, and Cedric dying, he thought that it was best if he just stayed there for a little while as Lupin had suggested.

"That sounds good," he said at last. "How long do I have to stay here?"

xxx

"Hey Harry!" greeted Hermione as she, Ron, Neville, and Ginny all gathered around Harry. They had done as they were told and had not seen Harry since he had woken up in order to let him get his energy back gradually. It was now two days since Harry had been asleep, and would be another day until he was to return to classes. Dumbledore felt that now was an appropriate time to allow Harry some visitors other than Lupin, Mrs. Weasley, and, of course, himself.

"Hey, how are you guys?" Harry answered, trying to ignore the room in his head and focus solely on his friends.

"We're fine, what about you? What have you been doing for the past few days?" asked Ron.

"I've been looking over my books, so that I won't be as far behind when I go back to class. Lupin said that he'd help me practice the spells that you all learned. It shouldn't be too bad."

To Harry it looked like they wanted to ask him something, but didn't know how to say it. "Ask whatever you want, you guys. I won't mind."

"How are you doing with that curse that he put back on you?" asked Ginny finally.

"It's not as bad as it was last time," Harry answered her truthfully. He thought back to the conversation that he had had with Dumbledore yesterday about the curse, and decided to relay the information to them. "Dumbledore said that it was worse before because Sirius had just, well, you know...Now I've had months to deal with it, so it's not that bad. I still hate it, but I can deal with it better now."

"Well, that's good," said Hermione, trying to sound encouraging. They fell silent again, until Hermione decided to speak up again. "Why did Voldemort think that you knew the prophecy?"

Ron winced at the name as usual but Harry didn't notice. He was too busy thinking about the proposed question. He didn't really know for sure how Voldemort knew either. At least they didn't think that he did know it.

"I dunno, I guess he just assumed that after all the trouble it had caused last year, Dumbledore would have decided that it was time to tell me. Or he might not have known that I hadn't known then. I mean, the Death Eaters were shocked that I didn't know what it said, so that means that they all knew of it long before I did. It makes sense that, if I really hadn't known it at that time, I would know it now." Harry really hoped that that would be enough to change the conversation around to something else, and thought desperately for something else to talk about. He was about to open his mouth when Hermione spoke again.

"That makes sense. Dumbledore _would _have told you about the prophecy when that was all over. So that means that you really do know it, then."

Harry cursed his friend's deductive reasoning. He really didn't want to tell them what the prophecy was, partly because Dumbledore had made him swear but mostly because of what he had just suffered. He didn't want his friends to have to deal with that. He fought to make his voice sound bitter so that what he was about to say would sound more truthful.

"No, I don't know what it is. Dumbledore wouldn't tell me. He said that I had too much to worry about, what with Sirius and all. He said that he would tell me when he thought that I could handle it better. Now I'm glad that he didn't tell me, otherwise I probably would have told it to Voldemort."

Harry silently thanked any deity that was listening that his friends bought this. He cast around for another idea, having completely forgotten what he was going to say before Hermione spoke.

"So, are you guys still learning Occlumency?" asked Harry.

"We're working on it," Neville told him, speaking at last. "I still can't do it, but Lupin said that I'm getting a little bit better," he added.

"That's good," answered Harry. He turned to the others. "What about you guys?"

"I wasn't really paying much attention," said Ron truthfully. "I couldn't concentrate on it, so I didn't get any better yet. Lupin told me to keep practicing, and that we'd start up again once you were better."

"We didn't want to do anything while you were with Voldemort," said Hermione, "and to tell you the truth, it didn't seem like Lupin did, either. But Dumbledore said that it was really important and that we had to do it, so we did. None of us really did all that well. When you were brought back here, we didn't practice anymore, and Dumbledore seemed to understand. I think that he was trying to give us something to think about so that we wouldn't be worrying about you when there was nothing that we could do."

"That sounds like something Dumbledore would do," said Harry, agreeing with Hermione's reasoning. "What about Luna? How's she doing?"

"She's the same as she always is." It was Ginny who answered him this time. "She doesn't know that you're back yet, mainly because we haven't seen that much of her."

Harry nodded. He looked up as the door opened and Lupin walked in. He was levitating a giant tray of food in front of him. It had soup, sandwiches, and crackers, along with the usual pumpkin juice. He set the tray down next to Harry.

"It's about time for lunch, so I thought that I'd bring it up here, in case you all wanted to stay and eat with Harry," Lupin said.

"Thanks," they responded. They took a bowl and a sandwich and began to eat hungrily. Harry was the only one who was not digging into his food. He took a few sips of soup and nibbled at a sandwich before putting it down and taking a sip of juice. He met Lupin's eyes and knew that he would have to eat more than that. He ate two-thirds of the soup and half of his sandwich before he felt so full that he couldn't possibly eat anything else. He looked at Lupin to make sure that was alright, and Lupin nodded understandingly. He pushed away his uneaten food and lay back in bed.

"That's all that you're eating?" asked Ron incredulously, halfway through eating his third sandwich.

"Ron, leave him alone," said Hermione. "Just because he doesn't feel the need to shove food down his throat doesn't mean anything."

Once they had all finished eating Lupin cleared away the dishes and sat down at the end of Harry's bed.

"So, have you thought of how you're going to get rid of the curse?" asked Ginny tentatively. Harry assumed that the question was directed at him until Lupin piped in.

"We're working on that," he said. "We don't know whether or not we should do something to attempt to make it go away, or just let him go about his day and hope that something happens naturally to make it go away."

"We could always call Fudge back here," suggested Ron. They all laughed, even Harry.

xxx

Finally the day came when Harry was to start up his classes again. No one had said anything to the rest of the school, or to the teachers that were not in the order. This morning Dumbledore, Lupin, Mrs. Weasley, and his friends were all gathered around Harry. He was standing up, shifting his weight from foot to foot. It had been so long since he had walked on his own that when they had finally let him get out of bed and walk around a few days before he had been ecstatic. Now he wanted to get around and move around somewhere larger than his small room in the hospital wing.

"What do we have first?" Harry asked, looking at Ron, Hermione, and Neville.

"Defense," answered Lupin before anyone else could respond.

"Okay," replied Harry. "What all does the rest of the school know about what happened?" he asked, not sure what to expect.

"They were told that you were taken by Death Eaters and were rescued over winter break. They do not know what they wanted with you, they assumed that they simply wanted to kill you. I would not advise you tell them what happened," Dumbledore told him. "Breakfast is almost over, so if I am to make an announcement of your return, we should get going."

Harry frowned. He didn't like the idea of being put on display like that. He thought about how much they would all stare at him and everything. That was when he came up with another idea.

"Why don't we just act like everything's normal and see how long it takes everyone to notice that I'm here. Then you can make the announcement at dinner that I'm all better, and it won't come as a shock to that many people."

"We could do that," agreed Dumbledore. He saw the look in Harry's eyes and agreed. "Very well. I will not make an announcement. I will, of course, inform the teachers of your return."

"No, don't tell them!" whined Fred, having just arrived with George in time to hear that bit of the conversation.

"And why shouldn't he?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Because, it would be much more fun to see their reaction to Harry being back. Don't you agree?" he asked, turning to Harry.

"That would be entertaining," Harry agreed. He looked at Dumbledore. "Unless you think that it's a bad idea."

Dumbledore thought it over for a minute. Then, deciding that a bit of humor would be best for Harry, he agreed. "I will tell no one of your return, and wait until tonight to make any sort of announcement. Now, I would go and get ready if I were you. You wouldn't want to be late for your first class in over two months, now, would you?"

xxx

Everyone gathered around the door to the classroom, awaiting Professor Lupin. Dean was telling Seamus about something he had seen on the wall when Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville turned the corner and started walking towards them. Dean nodded hello to them and turned back to Seamus. Then he caught sight of the person slightly hidden behind Ron and Hermione.

"_HARRY!"_

Everyone around them immediately stopped talking and turned to stare at Harry. Usually having everybody stare at him was an unpleasant experience for him, but this time it was rather entertaining seeing the dumbstruck looks on their faces. Dean's jaw dropped open, closely followed by several others. Harry grinned in amusement at the looks on their faces, unwittingly causing the room in his head to dim.

"Well, so nice that you all remembered my name," said Harry, breaking the silence.

"You're alright!" exclaimed Lavender.

"Right again. Why, I'm so proud of you!" That time Ron spoke, who was caught between the anger that he had felt towards them since Harry's capture and laughter at the looks on their faces. The group glanced wearily at Ron, not wanting to upset him, since they had seen him snap on many occasions in the past few months.

"I'm really sorry that we didn't stay to help!" Dean burst out suddenly, causing Harry to blink in surprise. "We didn't mean to let you get carried off by Death Eaters, so if there's anything at all that we could do for you—"

"Don't worry about it," Harry said, stemming the flow of agreement coming from the mouths of everyone else who had not stayed to help. "No matter how prepared you think you are, there's nothing like an actual encounter with danger to wake you up. I do not blame anyone for what happened that night, don't worry."

A look of relief washed over everyone's faces. They had been afraid that Harry would be furious and not talk to them. The fact that he was joking and wasn't mad was a great consolation.

At that moment Lupin walked up and ushered them all inside. Everyone muttered on last "Sorry" to Harry and walked into the room. Harry entered last, grinning back at the smile that Lupin gave him before he shut the door.

"Good day, everyone, take your seats. As you all have noticed, Harry has returned. I ask you not to bother him about what happened to him while he was away, as I'm sure that's something that he would rather not think about. Today, in light of Harry's return, we are going to practice something that he told me you had never really gotten around to finishing. Patronuses."

There was some interested muttering following that before everyone settled down and gave Lupin their full attention. He glanced at Harry once before starting. "Now, let's see how good Harry's teaching skills are. Who can tell me what a patronus does?"

xxx

Never in his life had Harry thought that he would have fun having people stare at him. But that was before he got to watch all of their facial expressions, all of which helped the room in his head greatly reduce. The students all gaped at him, and then, once they realized that he was indeed standing there, had all burst into concern for him. The teachers that hadn't known that he was all right were even more entertaining.

Professor Flitwick stood upon his usual stack of books, glancing around the room to check attendance. His eyes shifted from the seating arrangement in his hand to the corresponding chair. When he got to the desk that was assigned to Harry Potter he didn't even glance at it, so accustomed to it being empty. So sure was he that Dumbledore would have told him if Potter was back that when his peripheral vision picked up someone in the boy's seat he opened his mouth to tell the person off for changing seats without permission.

His mouth froze in that position as he saw the person sitting in Harry's seat. It was Harry! The professor hastened to shut his mouth, swallowed, and then spoke. "Mr. Potter, what a pleasure to have you back with us. I wasn't expecting you today."

"Thank you, it's good to be back," responded Harry, internally laughing at the look on his teacher's face. The lesson went on as if nothing had changed, but Harry noticed that Flitwick's eyes continued to dart over to him every couple of minutes. The room in his head dimmed again.

The same sort of thing followed each of Harry's classes. The teachers recovered fairly quickly, usually letting out only a gasp or so before welcoming him back and then beginning with the lesson. Occasionally they would glance at him as though to assure themselves that he was really there.

The students, however, were not so obvious. After about his second class with the Gryffindors, they quit staring at him every time the teachers turned their backs to them. The rest of the students did not do that. Herbology with the Hufflepuffs proved to be eventful, when their attention was more focused on Harry than their assignment. What finally brought them back to the present was a very nasty cut that Ernie had received while he was busy apologizing profusely to Harry. Professor Sprout yelled at him for not paying attention and sent him to the hospital wing.

By the time lunch rolled around everyone in the school knew that he was back. Despite the teachers' warnings, several students asked him where he had been. Harry told them that he didn't want to talk about it and went on his way. He was starting to get sick of the attention again, but at least it had been fun for a while. The room in his head was still there, but it was rapidly vanishing. Harry had a feeling that if one more big thing happened it would disappear completely.

Deciding that it would be best to make an appearance in the Great Hall to let those who hadn't seen for themselves that Harry was back to see him, Ron and Hermione led the way, Harry following close behind them. No one noticed them at first, but after a few moments it became apparent that they had been noticed, due to the fact that several people were standing up to get a better view of him. Within ten minutes every member of the DA who had not already seen him had stopped by to apologize for running away. Harry began to wonder if Ron had said something to them. Judging by the fact that Ron was glaring at the lot of them, he strongly believed that he had. He brushed all of their apologies off and then turned to Ron and Hermione.

"What do you guys say we go sit outside under a tree until lunch is over? All this attention is starting to get at me."

"It's barely even lunchtime and already you're sick of it?" asked Ron incredulously. "We haven't even eaten anything yet!"

"Ron, you're plate is half empty," scoffed Hermione.

"I see it as half full," he responded, shoving a fork full of mashed potatoes in his mouth. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to Harry.

"Come on, let's go. Ron can join us when he's finished."

That seemed to get Ron out of his eating frenzy. "Fine, I'm coming!"

They were leaving the Great Hall when Luna Lovegood walked up to them. She had yet to see Harry since the night he had been taken, and now seemed like an appropriate time.

"Hi Harry," she greeted him in the same dreamy voice that she always used. "I just came by to say hello and to tell you that I'm really glad that you're feeling better."

"Thanks, and thanks for being one of the few people to stay and fight. You all did a really good job, and, even though I was captured, I appreciate the help anyway."

"You're welcome," replied Luna casually. She looked around once, as if to make sure that nobody was listening, and said, "I overheard some Slytherins talking. They said something about being becoming Death Eaters."

Harry started at that information and, deciding that the Great Hall was not the best place to have this discussion, quickly asked, "Do you want to go for a walk with us?"

"Okay," she agreed, understanding Harry's true invitation. Together they walked outside and strolled idly over to a big oak, away from the few others that were wandering about outside. They sat down at the base of the tree, positioned so that if anyone were coming, Harry or Hermione would see them before they got close enough to hear what they were talking about.

"Okay, what were you saying about Death Eaters?"

"I heard several Slytherins talking about how over winter break, they got the Dark Mark," Luna told him in the same voice that one would use when discussing the weather.

"How long ago was that?" asked Harry.

"A week or two, about when we got back from break."

"Why didn't you say anything before now?" asked Hermione.

"Because I wanted to tell Harry and see what he thought about it first," replied Luna.

"How did you hear this?" pressed Hermione. "I mean, that's not exactly the sort of conversation that you have in the middle of the Great Hall. Especially not when there's people about."

"They didn't notice that I was there," Luna told her. "I was heading to the library when I heard them whispering. It was rather late at night, and I was hidden in the shadows while they were discussing it. I didn't hear all of it, but I know that they had no choice in the matter, although it didn't appear as if they minded at all. When I walked past them they said something about Malfoy, but what it was, I'm not sure."

"You walked by them while they were talking about Death Eaters?" asked Ron, astonished. "What were you thinking? You could have found out more stuff!"

"By the tone of their voices they were almost done talking and they were getting quieter, so I figured if I could get a little closer I could tell what they were saying."

"Well, that was quite a risk, don't you think?" asked Hermione.

"How was it a risk? I couldn't hear anything more from where I was standing, and this way I had a chance to hear more," said Luna, confused as to where Hermione was going with this.

"Did you really think that they would continue their conversation at all once they realized that you were there?" asked Hermione exasperatedly.

"They did," answered Luna. "People take one look at me and automatically assume that I'm not threat. I look like I'm lost in my own little world most of the time, that way people will underestimate me. You are the smartest person in your year...if you can underestimate me, I think a bunch of junior Death Eaters can too."

Ron and Hermione stared at her once her speech was over. Harry grinned and looked out over the yard, making sure that no one was within earshot. Then a thought crossed his mind.

"Who was talking?" he asked Luna.

"I'm not sure," she replied. "One of them was a boy in my year, Marcus Eckler. The other one I've seen before but I can't remember his name. I think that he's in your year, though. His name sounded like...oh what was it...Blake? No. Bl—"

"Blaise?" suggested Hermione. "Blaise Zabini?"

"I think so," said Luna, blinking up at her. "I don't know what the last name was, but Eckler definitely called him Blaise, now that I think of it. I don't know how many sixth years are named that, so I think it's safe to say that that's who it is."

Harry nodded at her reasoning. "Thanks for telling us. I'll make sure that Dumbledore knows."

"Okay," she said, smiling, looking like her usual crazy self. "Well, that's all that I wanted to say. It's good to have you back." She stood up and walked back over to the double doors leading into the school. Harry, Ron, and Hermione remained seated.

"What do you think about that?" asked Ron as soon as she was out of earshot.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked him, not liking the sound of his voice.

"Do you think that she's telling the truth or—"

"Why wouldn't she be?" demanded Harry. "This isn't the thing that you'd lie about."

"But it's also the sort of thing that you could get confused about," Hermione answered for Ron. "We're not saying that she deliberately lied to you, I'm just saying that she might have gotten her information wrong, that's all. It's like if we see Malfoy doing something, we automatically think that he's doing something wrong, and we jump to a conclusion before we get all the facts. What if she did the same?"

"Do you really want to take a chance not telling anyone because you're afraid that you're going to be wrong?" asked Harry, the curse that was currently taking over his brain taking a backseat for the moment and thus getting slightly dimmer. "I'm going to go talk to Lupin about it. I'll tell him that Luna overheard them talking and then let him decide what to tell Dumbledore, okay?"

"Okay," agreed Hermione. She looked down at her watch. "But it's going to have to wait until later, because we only have about ten minutes until our next class."

"Which is?" asked Harry, not yet used to the schedule.

"Potions."

Harry groaned. He wasn't looking forward to this class at all, the class filled with the future Death Eaters, or, if Luna's information was correct, they were already Death Eaters. Not to mention the fact that he didn't know what to do about Snape. Seeing the others get up, he too stood up and followed the others glumly down to the dungeons.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" sneered Draco Malfoy to the other Slytherins as Harry and his friends drew nearer. Harry made a point of ignoring him before leading the way to a wall across from the door to the classroom.

"I heard all about what happened to him while he was...shall we say...away."

By this time the whole class has gathered around them, the Gryffindors both angry and eager to know what happened to Harry, since they were forbidden from asking.

"He was under the Cruciatus curse for weeks," boasted Malfoy, as though he had had a helping hand in what happened to Harry. "My father told me all about it, how Potter was so weak that within a few weeks he could barely even moan anymore. Some savoir that you all have there; I know that I wouldn't want _my _life to lay in the hands of someone that weak."

Harry was growing angrier by the minute, though not nearly as angry as Ron, Hermione, and Neville were. The other Gryffindors, who hadn't known what had happened to Harry, all gasped in horror.

"Yup, that's right," continued Malfoy. "He was so weak that he couldn't even make a sound when my father kicked him in the head. Can you believe that? If that traitor hadn't had stepped in the way, then he'd be dead right now. Just like that loser godfather of his."

At the mention of Sirius' name, Harry got even more furious. He could handle the insults about him, but if he went so far as to insult Sirius...

"My father told me all about him. You all know him," Malfoy informed the group at large. "Sirius Black?" the Gryffindors gasped. "Yup, that Mudblood lover. He was born into one of the most influential families of that time, next to mine, of course, but he went and threw it all away to hang out with trash like that werewolf, the Mudblood-loving Potter, and even the Mudblood herself. What was her name, again? Lily—"

Before he even knew what was happening Malfoy found himself being flung across the hall and into a nearby wall. He dropped to the ground, and looked up, only to find himself staring into the tip of Harry Potter's wand.

Harry hadn't been this angry since the night that Sirius died. Malfoy had just insulted every single member of his family, and Remus. He wouldn't get away with this. He had remained silent for too long, but now he was going to make Malfoy suffer for everything that he said. Harry was so angry, and had all of his energy so focused on Malfoy that he didn't even notice that the room in his head was rapidly dimming, and the screaming was almost inaudible.

As if by instinct, Malfoy made to raise his wand. "Expelliarmus!" cried Harry, and, since he was so close to Malfoy as it was, he was flung backwards into the wall once again. Harry deftly caught his wand and put it in his pocket. He raised his wand. The whole class was watching, he could tell by the sudden intake of breath. He was about to shout out the next curse when a voice behind him made him stop.

"Mr. Potter what exactly do you think you're doing?"

The cold voice made him drop his wand and turn around to face the one professor he had been dreading seeing ever since he had found out what had happened. For some reason, he found that he couldn't stare Snape in the eye, so he stared at a spot on the wall that he was eye-level with. For some reason, the sight of Snape no longer infuriated him like it once had.

"Nothing, sir," he answered. "We were just talking."

"Fucking traitor," he heard Malfoy growl from behind him. Harry felt a new wave of anger wash over him, although he couldn't understand why. He was suddenly aware of the fact that he still had Malfoy's wand.

"Ten points from Gryffindor," spat Snape, and he turned and walked towards the door to his classroom.

"Potter has my wand," Malfoy informed Snape coldly.

"Aw, Malfoy, you must feel so embarrassed to have your wand taken from you by someone as weak as I am," Harry patronized him. "You should really take better care of your property. You wouldn't want your master to be disappointed by the fact that Potter has your wand, now would you?"

The Gryffindors laughed at the first thing that Harry said, but everyone became silent as soon as Harry's last words registered. Malfoy's gray eyes narrowed as he looked at Harry. Knowing that he had at least managed to make Malfoy look like a fool was enough for now, he decided. He took Malfoy's wand out of his pocket and threw it at the Slytherin. Malfoy, unprepared, made to catch it but dropped it at the last second.

"You're a disgrace to the name of Slytherin, Malfoy," Harry told him, before turning around and walking into the classroom. He glanced up at Professor Snape as he passed, but quickly dropped his gaze as soon as he met the cold black eyes. It wasn't until halfway through potions that Harry realized that the curse had disappeared completely during his fight with Malfoy. It took him even longer to realize that he hadn't lost points for what he had said to Malfoy.

**Chapter 16: Conversations**

All conversation stopped as soon as Harry walked into the Great Hall that evening for dinner. Shaking his head in annoyance, he walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Ron and Hermione sat down on either side of him. He helped himself to some of the food and started to eat, trying not to notice the looks coming to him from all directions. _I am going to kill Draco Malfoy for letting everyone know what happened to me,_ he vowed to himself. Finally having enough, he slammed down his fork and turned to look down the table at some of the people who had been staring at him.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's impolite to stare?" he snapped down at them. Hearing the anger in his voice, everyone immediately turned to look elsewhere, this time wearing identical looks that said, "I wasn't looking at him, were _you _looking at him?

Sighing in frustration Harry turned to look up at the staff table. Dumbledore caught his eye and gave him an apologetic look. Harry shrugged and continued to look down the table. His eyes roamed over McGonagall, Lupin, Mrs. Weasley, and Moody before coming to rest on an empty seat near the end of the table.

"Where do you think Snape is?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione.

"Who cares?" asked Ron, shoving down his tenth chicken wing. Hermione gave him a look of disgust before turning to look at the staff table as well.

"I don't know," she said thoughtfully. She looked back over at Harry. "Why?"

"I was just curious," he shrugged. He pushed the remaining mashed potatoes around on his plate. After a few moments he set his fork down and stood up.

"Where are you going?" asked Ron and Hermione in unison.

"I'm gonna go for a walk," he told them.

"Then I'm going, too," Ron told him, making to stand up as well.

"No, that's okay. I want to be alone so I can think about some things."

"I'm not leaving you alone after what happened!" Ron told him incredulously.

"Yeah, because you were all a great help last time," snapped Harry before he could stop himself. Seeing the hurt in Ron's eyes, he immediately made to amend his last statement. "That's not what I meant. You guys were great. It's just that they already got me. I didn't give them the information they needed, so they won't try me again. You guys are the ones that are in danger here, and I don't think that walking around with me while everyone else is at dinner is such a good idea. Besides, I might end up somewhere that you don't want to be, and then..."

"Where might you end up?" cut in Ron.

"I'm not sure, that's why I said I might.—"

"Are you going to talk to Professor Snape?" asked Hermione.

_That girl's really too smart for her own good, _Harry decided. He was about to respond when Ron cut in again.

"Why would Harry go talk to that greasy git for?"

"I have to ask him something," Harry answered. Ron's mouth fell open.

"You mean you are going to talk to him? Why?"

"The man saved my life, Ron. I have to say something to him. And if I wait too long it wouldn't seem right. Let me do this before I lose my nerve, okay?" he requested.

Hermione seemed to understand because she said, "Sure thing, just be sure to go right back to Gryffindor tower when you're done, I still don't want you wandering around down there by the Slytherins longer than you have to."

"Okay," Harry agreed before turning and exiting the great hall. He just hoped that Snape was in his office.

xxx

Okay, he really hoped that Snape wasn't in his office. He took a deep breath and then knocked on the door. It was silent for a moment before he heard a voice from inside ask, "Who's there?"

Taken aback by the suspicion in his professor's voice, Harry mentally shook his head and answered, "Harry Potter."

Footsteps were heard from inside and suddenly the door opened and Harry found himself face-to-face with Snape. He held his breath.

"What do you want?" snapped Snape.

"I, well I, um..." Harry began.

"Out with it Potter, I don't have all day."

"I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute," Harry asked him rather hurriedly, as if Snape would let him in if he asked really fast. The potions professor's face went from surprise to suspicion in less than three seconds.

"What about?" he asked coldly. Harry gulped.

"About what happened over winter break, sir."

Snape looked like he was considering it for a moment. He gave Harry a sharp look before saying, "Fine. Get in."

He stepped aside to allow Harry room to enter. Harry stepped inside and looked around the room. Behind him Snape shut the door and muttered a silencing spell. The professor stepped around Harry and sat down at his desk. When Harry remained standing he rose one of his eyebrows and then looked down at the empty seat across from him. Figuring that was the closest that he was going to get to an invitation, Harry cautiously sat down.

"What did you wish to discuss?"

It amazed Harry how Snape could make the simplest of questions sound as though the world would explode if he answered it wrong. Harry looked down at his hands. Now that he was here he didn't know what to say. But he had to say something or else Snape would kick him out and he would never have another chance.

"Why did you save me?" he asked quietly, raising his head to meet Snape's eyes. "You could have just let Vol-the Dark Lord kill me and told Professor Dumbledore that there was nothing you could do. Why did you give up spying to save me? It's not exactly a secret that you hate me."

Whatever Snape had been expecting, apparently this wasn't it. He stared at Harry for a moment, pondering the question and debating what to tell him. Finally he settled on the truth.

"Dumbledore told me the prophecy."

Now it was Harry's turn to be surprised. He hadn't been expecting that, even though it made sense. Noticing Snape's eyes on him, he realized he had to say something. "Oh." That sounded stupid. "That makes sense then."

"Why did you want to know?" demanded Snape, eyeing Harry.

"I couldn't figure out why you would risk so much for one person whom you hated, sir," answered Harry.

"I assure you it had nothing to do with you personally," Snape told him.

"I didn't think it did," responded Harry.

They sat in silence for a moment before Snape asked something that had been on his mind for the past few weeks. "Why didn't you tell the Dark Lord a fake prophecy? I hear you have been excelling in your Occlumency lessons," he said in a tone of voice that left no doubt to Harry that he didn't believe that. "You would have been able to make something up."

Once again Harry was surprised. He hadn't intended on being the one questioned, but since he owed this man his life, he supposed there was nothing he could do but answer. Snape had already seen him at his weakest time, he didn't have much dignity left to lose at this point.

"The prophecy says that I'm the only one who can kill him," he started, not looking at Snape. "If I told him the prophecy then I have no doubt that he would have killed me. Then there would be no way for him to die. As long as I was still alive, there was some way, even if it was only a tiny percentage." Harry took a deep breath and then proceeded to tell his professor the rest of the reason why he hadn't said anything. "I was hoping that if I held on long enough, then someone would eventually figure out where I was and would get me out of there."

Snape sat and stared at Harry for a few minutes. That was more than he would have expected out of Potter. He actually made sense. He would never tell him this, of course, but it was something to think about. He was about to open his mouth when Potter spoke.

"Professor, you've always been honest with me. Or, at least more honest than everyone else. You've never been worried about babying me or hurting my feelings. Can you answer something for me honestly?"

Snape gave the boy a searching look before finally nodding in acquiescence. "All right then."

"Do you think I can do it?"

"Do what?" snapped Snape, sounding more like himself.

"Kill Voldemort?"

Snape automatically flinched at the sound of the name that Harry had forgotten to omit. He looked into the bright emerald eyes of his most hated student. In them he saw the fear and uncertainty that had taken up residence there ever since he had first learned the prophecy all those months ago. For some reason that he himself didn't even know, Snape found himself answering the question.

"If he were to come up to you right now and demand a final battle, then no. You would die. You should have been preparing for this all along, but the headmaster felt that you needed some time to be a kid. Now your time is running out, and if you don't start practicing spells soon, then no, I don't believe you could do it. "

Seeing the look of defeat in Potter's eyes, he forced himself to finish his train of thought. "However, you have shown strength and talent that no one else has shown at your age. You can produce a Patronus, completely throw off the Cruciatus curse, have thrown off the Dementomins Curse twice, and have spent more than a month under continuous torture and are still alive and sane. You have the potential to kill him; that much is given in the prophecy. Now all you need to do is practice. If you give it all you have, then yes, I do think that you can beat him."

Harry stared at his professor, making sure that his jaw was clamped shut tight lest it drop open in shock. He had never expected that kind of an answer from Snape. The man hated him, had never had a decent thing to say to him, and now he was telling him that he thought that he could defeat Voldemort? What was the world coming to?

"Would you help me?"

It was harder to tell who was more surprised by the question: Harry or Snape. Snape was shocked that Harry Potter was asking _him _of all people to help him. Harry was surprised that he had asked _anyone _for help, let alone the professor who hated him the most.

"It's just that, well, you were a...well, you know...for so long, then you'd know what sort of curses I have to look out for, as well as what spells I need to know, and stuff like that. I don't mean that you have to teach me them, I can do that on my own, but if, you know, you suddenly think of a curse that could help me, if you could like write it down or something..."

Harry realized he was babbling and quickly stopped talking. He looked up at Snape, but quickly looked away, suddenly afraid to hear what Snape would have to say.

"What do you mean you can learn them on your own? If people could learn things on their own they wouldn't need teachers, would they?" sneered Snape in an attempt to bring things back to normal.

"It takes less time if you have someone there who can explain to you what you're doing wrong," conceded Harry, "but it's not mandatory. I practiced a bunch of spells on my own."

"Arrogant, aren't we Mr. Potter?" Snape asked acidly.

"That's not what I meant, sir," Harry said quickly. "I just meant that it was possible, it still takes a long time. It took me about a week of practice before I could finally stun someone properly..."

"Enough," cut in Snape. He surveyed Harry quietly for a moment. Harry tried hard not to squirm under such an intense gaze. After what felt like hours (in reality it had been but a minute), Snape came to a decision. "You really want to learn these spells?"

Harry nodded, deciding not to mention that Snape hadn't told him any of the spells that he would have to learn.

"And you willing to spend hours learning, practicing, and perfecting these spells?"

"Yes, sir," responded Harry.

"Very well. Come down to my office Thursday. Right after dinner. Then we shall go over some of the curses that I think you will find useful. We shall let that lesson determine whether or not I feel we should continue. Do not let any of the Slytherins find out that I am teaching you these things, understood?"

"Yes, sir," said Harry, then he fell silent. Snape's words had stirred another memory, one that he was supposed to tell Lupin. Since he was here, he decided he might as well tell Snape, and then let the man decide whether or not to inform the headmaster.

"Professor?" asked Harry. Looking up and seeing that he had Snape's attention, he continued. "I was talking to, someone, today," for some reason he felt like he would be betraying Luna if he were to give Snape her name, "and they said that they heard two Slytherins talking about becoming Death Eaters."

"Who told you this?" demanded Snape. Harry hesitated. "Well?"

"I don't want to give you their name," responded Harry slowly. Seeing the furious look in Snape's eyes, he decided that it would be alright if he told him who it was that had given him this information. Besides, maybe then Dumbledore would be able to question her if he needed any more information. "Luna Lovegood."

"And how did she find out?" Snape asked in a dignified sort of voice.

"She was walking to the library and she overheard Blaise Zabini and, uh, some fifth year talking about it. I think it was Mark, no Marcus, something-or-other. I don't know his name, but she could tell you. She said they were talking about getting the Dark Mark, and they said something about Malfoy."

"Are you sure?" asked Snape, his cold eyes boring into Harry's, although daring him to say that it was all a joke.

"That's what she said," Harry told him. "And she wouldn't make something like this up. I'm pretty positive that she's telling the truth."

"You need to learn how to stop being so trusting," Snape shot at him, his attention focused on a spot on his desk. He then raised his head to stare at Harry. "Is there anything else?"

"No, sir. Are you going to talk to Professor Dumbledore?" he asked curiously.

"That is none of your business," responded the potions professor. "Now, if you have nothing else to say, get out of my office."

"Yes, sir."

Harry got out of his seat and started to walk towards the door. He put his hand on the doorknob and started to turn it. He was halfway out the door before he turned to look at Snape one last time.

"Professor?"

"What?" snapped Snape, looking up from his desk to meet Harry in the eyes.

Harry met his gaze and said, in barely more than a whisper, "Thank you." Then, not expecting any response, turned back around. He was shutting the door when he heard, so quietly at first he thought that he had imagined it, Snape's response.

"You're welcome."

Harry was so consumed by the shock of hearing Snape say 'you're welcome' that he did not pay much attention to his surroundings. It was this that prevented him from noticing the dark figure lurking in a corner. Shrouded by shadows, Blaise Zabini watched Harry Potter exit Snape's office. He heard him thank Snape and the returning 'you're welcome'. Hidden in his corner, Blaise pondered his deadly errand and smiled; his task appeared much easier now.


	5. Chapters 17 to 20

**Chapter 17: Blaise Zabini**

Once Harry was out of sight Zabini stepped out of the shadows and approached Snape's door. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to do. Gathering his courage, he knocked on the door.

"Who's there?"

"Blaise Zabini."

There was silence from behind the door. Suddenly the door burst open and he found a wand pointed between his eyes. He gulped and raised his hands, showing Snape that he wasn't holding anything.

"What do you want?" hissed Snape.

"I-I have to t-tell you something," stammered Zabini, suddenly unsure if he was doing the right thing.

"What?" Snape had not yet lowered his wand.

"I was hoping w-we could talk inside. I d-don't want the others t-to hear it."

Snape eyed him suspiciously for a moment before backing up, allowing the boy to enter. He lowered his wand but maintained his strong grip on it. He stood before his desk and watched the Slytherin squirm. Unlike with Harry, he didn't offer him a seat.

"Well?" Snape demanded.

Zabini opened his mouth, trying to figure out how to best phrase what he had to confess. "Over winter break, my dad made...I took the Dark Mark." There, he'd said it. Now he had to wait to see what the older man would do.

Snape looked down at his student regretfully, resisting the urge to close his eyes. It appeared that Potter was right after all. He observed his student carefully, trying to discern why he was telling him this. It was a well known fact by now, at least among Voldemort's supporters, that Snape wasn't one of them. So that could only mean...

"I didn't want to, not really, but my father made me. He said that if I didn't he'd kill me, and I—"

Snape raised a hand to stop the flow of words from continuing. He stared directly into Zabini's eyes; the boy was telling the truth. He sighed.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Zabini calmed a little once he realized that Snape wasn't going to attack him. He looked down at the floor, unable to continue to stare into his professor's eyes. He frowned at the question; wasn't it obvious?

"I want to be a spy."

Snape raised an eyebrow at that comment; who in their right mind would want to be a spy? He himself had only done it because Dumbledore had left him no other option. But to willingly become a spy, that was insane.

"Why would you want to do that? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"

"Sir, I don't want to be a Death Eater. I've seen what they do, and I don't want to be a part of that. If I don't go, then they'll kill me. If I get caught spying, then they'll kill me. At least this way I might help somebody. You were a spy, weren't you? Now that you're not a spy anymore, how is Dumbledore getting his information?"

Snape acknowledged the fact that his reasoning was good; it was the same reasoning that Dumbledore had given him, minus the part about him no longer being able to spy anymore, of course. He met Zabini's eyes and asked him the question he most needed to know before he could decide what to do with this boy.

"Are you prepared to risk everything you have in order to help defeat the Dark Lord?"

Zabini nodded his head emphatically.

"Including your life and your family's respect?"

Zabini hesitated for a moment before nodding again.

"Are you willing to testify to this under Veritaserum?"

Zabini blinked in surprise, but nodded.

"Good. Come with me." Snape strode over to the door and yanked it open. Turning, he saw that Zabini was still standing in the same spot, looking confused.

"What are you waiting for?" he snapped.

"Where are we going?" asked Zabini, nervous once more.

"We're going to see the headmaster."

xxx

Blaise Zabini shifted uncomfortably in the overstuffed chair. It was even harder talking to Dumbledore than it had been talking to Snape. He couldn't raise his head to even look at the headmaster. Instead, he kept his head bent and his eyes trained on the floor in front of his feet. He waited for a moment before Dumbledore spoke.

"What can I do for you boys today?"

Snape bit back a retort to that opening statement and continued with the reason why they had gone there.

"Mr. Zabini has something he wishes to tell you."

Zabini raised his head to look at Snape. He had assumed that the older man would tell him the reasons for coming, not him. However, Snape was looking at him expectantly, as was Dumbledore, so he had to answer. He swallowed with some difficulty and then proceeded to tell the headmaster what he had told Snape just minutes before.

"Over winter break I was forced to take the Dark Mark."

He raised his eyes to see the headmaster's reaction and was shocked to find that there was no anger in those blue eyes, only sadness. It was this that pushed him to talk more.

"I don't want to be a Death Eater, sir. My father made me. I was hoping that I could become a spy for you, sir."

Dumbledore looked surprised, which rarely happened. He exchanged a look with Snape before settling his gaze back on the young man in front of him.

"What made you come to that conclusion?"

Zabini swallowed again and looked around at the various objects in the room. He wasn't stalling; he was merely thinking over the answer, trying to think of how to best phrase what he needed to say.

"I didn't have any say in taking the mark. All the children of Death Eaters had to; it was either that or die. I didn't want to die, so I took it. We're supposed to earn our right into his...circle, or whatever it is. A-and that's w-when I realized what I had g-gotten myself into..."

Zabini's voice trailed off as he thought about that night. It had been the most horrible night of his life. He and some of the other children (although he really didn't consider himself a child anymore) had each been given a Muggle to ''play with.'' They could do whatever they wanted, as long as it caused the person intense humiliation and pain. They had to do it in front of everyone, to make sure that they weren't going to chicken out. Zabini nearly threw up as he thought about the poor girl that he had been given. She had been eight. Without realizing it, his eyes were filling with tears and he was starting to shake. He forgot where he was as he thought about what he had done to her...how she had cried...how she had begged him to stop it and leave her alone. He wasn't aware of anyone else in the room as his mind traveled back to that night. The look in her eyes as he had his "fun", though he thought he had never had less fun in all of his life...

He jumped when a supporting hand came down on his shoulder. It then became obvious to him, as his mind snapped back to the present, that he was crying. He turned to see Snape looking at him, his arm still reached out to touch his shoulder. The look in his eyes was understanding. Zabini knew that the professor knew what he had done. He lowered his eyes.

"I need you to tell me what happened."

Zabini winced at the headmaster's words. He had known this was coming, had known that he would eventually have to tell them what it was that he had done. It sickened him when he thought about it. He didn't want to tell them, didn't think he could tell them. It was so hard just to think about it, let alone actually say it. To admit it aloud would make it even more real, and he didn't think he could take that. But he knew he would have to. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth to speak.

He couldn't do it. As soon as he opened his mouth to speak, Blaise's throat constricted, making it difficult to breathe and impossible to talk. He tried unsuccessfully for several minutes before Dumbledore finally cut in.

"I have another idea."

Blaise shut his mouth and watched as Dumbledore stood up and made his way over to a cabinet on the wall. The headmaster opened the door and pulled out a stone basin with markings around the side of it. Then he turned back to Snape and Blaise and set the basin in front of the young Slytherin, who looked at it apprehensively.

"I take it you know what this is?" Dumbledore asked, commenting on the student's face. Swallowing, Blaise nodded.

"A pensieve," he whispered, his throat still making it difficult for him to talk.

"Correct," responded Dumbledore. "Since it appears that you cannot tell us what happened, perhaps you could show us instead?"

What little color that had remained in Blaise's face drained away at that comment. He wanted to see it? That was even worse that listening to it. Alright, so Blaise wouldn't have to really do anything, but they would get to see first-hand what he had done. He wouldn't be able to skip anything. Seeing no alternative, he nodded his head.

"Excellent," said the headmaster, though he certainly was not in a good mood. "Now, I trust you have never used one of these before?"

Blaise shook his head.

"Then what I need for you to do is to draw out your wand and put it to your temple." The headmaster paused for a moment to allow Blaise to follow his instructions. "Very good. Now, I need you to concentrate very hard on your memory of that night. When you have that, you must try to extract that thought, using your wand. Understand?"

Blaise who, having grown up in a pureblooded family, knew all about pensieves, nodded his head. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on that night. His mind slowly started to push the memory forward. Suddenly, there were no words to describe it, the memory was transferred to his wand. Pulling the piece of wood away, Blaise saw a thin wisp of silver attached to the end of it.

"Well done," said Dumbledore. "Now place it in the pensieve."

Blaise did as he was told, then looked up at Dumbledore, wondering what was going to happen next. His question was answered by Dumbledore's next remark.

"I believe that it would be far too upsetting for you to view this memory again. I ask Severus to remain here with you while I review its contents. Is that alright with you?"

Chancing a quick glance at Snape, who was nodding, Blaise shook his head in acquiescence. Then he bent his head down, thinking of all that Dumbledore was about to see. Would the man want to help him after he saw what Blaise had done?

As Dumbledore stepped into the pensieve, Blaise started to cry. They were tears of guilt, tears of fear, tears of shame. He sniffed and attempted to wipe the tears from his face; Slytherins did not cry. But he thought of the pleading look in the girl's eyes and he started sobbing all over again. He put his head in his hands and let the tears take control. He felt the weight of Snape's hand on his back, but instead of being hurtful, like he would have expected, it was comforting. It was rubbing soothing circles on his back, attempting to calm his sobs.

After several minutes the tears subsided, leaving him breathing raggedly and attempting to regain some control. He raised his head as Dumbledore started talking again; he hadn't even noticed the older wizard had returned. When he saw the grave look upon the headmaster's face, however, he lowered his head again.

"It seems that what you did greatly disturbs you," said the older wizard. "Do you really think yourself strong enough to handle spying? It's a difficult job, as I'm sure Severus can attest to; it's not something to be taken lightly."

"I'm aware of that, sir," said Zabini, sitting up straight as if to prove himself, though still not daring to meet anyone's eyes. "As I explained to Professor Snape, if I don't do what they want me to, I'll be killed. If I get caught spying, I'll be killed. I'd rather die doing something useful."

Dumbledore seemed impressed with these words, just as Snape had been. While he thought over the boy in front of him, Snape observed the young Slytherin. He understood what he was feeling; it was how he had felt when he realized what a mistake he had made. He had broken down in front of Albus as well. That had been the first and only time he had ever cried. He knew what Dumbledore would do; he would do the same as he had for Severus. He knew that Dumbledore would placate the boy, tell him how upset he was with what had happened, but how he was glad that he had made the right choice.

But Snape also knew what it would do to the boy. It would turn him into the cold, heartless human being that he himself had become. One could not be a spy and have friends; it was too much of a risk to both parties. That was why Snape lived without friends. The only people he talked to were Dumbledore and the Death Eaters. Now it was only Dumbledore and the rest of the Order. Not that he really talked to any of them either, he mused. He sighed as he looked at Zabini. This was going to be hard for him, but Snape knew he could do it if he really set his mind to it.

After being excused for the night, Snape and Blaise made their way down to the dungeons. Before they reached them, however, Snape pulled Blaise into an empty classroom and put up a silencing charm.

"Be careful."

Blaise looked up at his professor for a moment before answering. "Professor, I know that the Dark Lord—"

"This has nothing to do with the Dark Lord," interrupted Snape. "This has to do with your classmates. Be careful about who you talk to. Assume that everyone is an enemy and they all have ears everywhere. Don't underestimate anyone. Harry Potter already came to see me tonight because a friend of his told him that she had heard you talking about becoming a Death Eater."

"Should I tell him I'm not?"

Snape looked at him as if he were a simpleton. "Of course not. He can't know that you're a spy; no one can. Be on guard at all times; you never know who could be listening. Not everyone will come running to me as Potter did. Then where would you be?"

Without waiting for an answer, Snape turned and walked out of the room. Blaise stared after him for a moment, before exiting the room as well.

**Chapter 18: Danger Ahead**

When Harry got to the common room, he immediately spotted Ron and Hermione in their usual corner of the common room. There were books on the table and it appeared that Hermione was trying to explain something to Ron when Harry walked over. The conversation stopped and they turned to him.

"So? How'd it go?" asked Hermione.

"It went...well," said Harry, still dazed from the conversation he just had. "I thanked him, and he actually said 'you're welcome'".

"Snape said 'you're welcome'?" asked Ron, shocked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, and then he said that he'd teach me."

"Teach you?" Now it was Hermione's turn to be shocked. "Isn't that what he's been doing?"

Harry shook his head. "Teach me the sort of stuff that I'd teach the DA."

"Why can't Lupin do that?" asked Ron.

"Because Snape was a spy for years; he knows what I'll need to know in order to fight them."

Hermione accepted this explanation; Ron still looked doubtful.

"I dunno...I mean...do you really think that it's a good idea to have Snape teach you? He's always such an ass to you. He'll take points away for sure; I can't believe he suggested this idea!"

Harry opened his mouth to tell Ron that it had been him who suggested it, not Snape, then shut his mouth. Ron wasn't going to understand, and this would just cause a fight. It was better just to let Ron think that Snape had come up with it and Harry had agreed. He knew that it wasn't the right thing to do, but for some reason, he couldn't tell Ron that they had reached an agreement. Perhaps it was because Ron didn't know the real reason why Harry was so eager to learn how to duel properly. Perhaps it was because Ron didn't hear the sincerity in the way Snape had said 'you're welcome.' Perhaps it was because Ron would never change his opinion of Snape.

But Harry's opinion had changed; it had as soon as he learned that Snape was the one who saved him. Sure, it was only because he was the-boy-who-lived, but Snape had still done it. Harry owed his life to him and so many others. The least he could do was make sure that he was as well trained as he possibly could be when it came down the final battle between himself and Voldemort. He still couldn't promise anyone that he would win; all he could promise them was that if he did lose, it wouldn't be because he hadn't tried. He had to learn as much as he could, and he would need as much help as he could get. As it happened, the best person to help Harry was Snape.

xxx

Harry made his way down to the dungeons. Even after everything he had told Ron and Hermione, he was still nervous about spending time alone with Snape. It wasn't that he feared for his life—after all, the man was doing this to help him—but this was his only chance to prove to Snape that he wasn't completely useless after all, and that time spent teaching him wouldn't be time wasted.

Harry continued walking, unknowingly clenching his wand beneath his robes every time a Slytherin would walk by. Reaching Snape's door, he raised his hand to knock. Upon receiving permission to enter, he pushed the door open and went inside.

Snape was sitting behind his desk, scribbling a note on some poor kid's homework assignment. He didn't look up as Harry entered the room, but simply remained with his head bent, finishing grading the paper. Figuring it wouldn't do well to interrupt him while he was busy, Harry remained where he was, waiting to be told what to do.

"On time, Mr. Potter?" Snape spoke from his position over the essay. Finished, he placed the paper on top of a rather large stack and set down his quill. Then he turned to look at Harry. "Perhaps you do want to learn this, after all."

Deciding that sarcasm wouldn't help anything, Harry nodded his head and walked over to stand in front of Snape, who stood up and pulled out his wand. Harry immediately tensed. Then, remembering that Snape was there to help him, he tried to relax. Snape noticed.

"Mr. Potter, there is nothing wrong with being anxious when an opponent draws his wand. Not showing that anxiousness, though, is very important. You never want to let on that you're nervous, especially to a Death Eater."

Harry nodded his understanding of Snape's words. Snape looked at him for a moment before continuing. "The first curse I am going to teach you is _Caligo, _the Dizzying Curse. I'm sure you are capable of guessing what it does." He waited for Harry's nod. "Good. Take out your wand and practice."

Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket and raised it, preparing to attack. Then he realized that he and Snape were the only ones in the room. Surely Snape didn't intend for Harry to attack him?

But Snape had seen Harry hesitate. Rolling his eyes, he said with a bit of impatience, "Really, Potter. I agreed to do this, did I not? I am not wasting my time so you can stand there and stare at me. Now attack me!"

Harry hesitated for only a moment longer before crying out, "_Caligo!"_

Snape stood perfectly still and allowed the spell to hit him. He took a slight step back and steadied himself for a moment, but otherwise showed nothing.

"That wasn't bad for a first try, Potter. Now do it again and this time put more emotion into it."

"_Caligo!" _The curse hit Snape square in the chest, causing him to stumble a few steps backwards. He looked up at Harry. "Better, but not good enough. You're afraid to hurt me, aren't you? Hit me with feeling and I'll save my wrath for a day that you truly are acting stupid, Potter. Now try it again and this time I want to see some real power going into the curse." (Thank Florencia for this part; what I said originally didn't sound very Snapeish!)

For the next hour, Harry sent spell after spell at Snape. Each time the professor would get dizzy, but not dizzy enough to cause any real difference. Not until five minutes before Harry was supposed to leave did he hit Snape with the spell so hard that the potions master was sent flying backwards and landed on this butt holding his head. He was like that for a solid three minutes before he was able to shake the remains of the dizziness off. He straightened and looked at Harry.

"That is the way that the spell should work. Keep practicing; no doubt one of your idiotic friends would be happy to be your dummy. Tomorrow we shall cover several other defensive curses, granting that you learn them as quickly as you learned this one."

Deciding that was the closest thing to a "well done" he was ever going to get from Snape, Harry placed his wand back in his pocket and turned to go.

"Same time tomorrow?" Snape nodded and Harry left.

xxx

It was the same routine for the next three weeks: Harry would go down to Snape's office, and for the next hour Harry would throw curses at Snape. A year ago he would have found cursing the man highly amusing. Now he concentrated solely on learning how to cast the spells. By the end of the month Harry had learned not only _Caligo, _but also _Tussio_(Coughing Curse)_, Conicio_(Hurling Hex_), Quiritatio_ (Shrieking Jinx)_, Risirisum_ (Laughing Jinx)_, and Inhero_ (non-permanent sticking charm) At times, Snape seemed to be impressed with how quickly Harry was learning the spells. But other times, he would get irritated with how long Harry took to grasp a spell that he would yell at Harry to get out and not come back until he was willing to give his all. Harry would return the next day, of course, and the two would act like the previous day had never happened and continue with the same spell.

Luckily for the majority of students, Harry was a lot more patient than Professor Snape. As soon as Harry was up and about, they decided to start the DA up again. Since their last lesson had been interrupted, Harry went over the lesson on Patronuses again. After a month, ten students were able to produce a corporeal Patronus, and fifteen were able to at least create some mist of sorts. For those who couldn't get it, Harry explained that not all people could produce a Patronus, that Patronuses were very hard to conjure, and that they shouldn't worry if they couldn't do it.

After that first month of lessons with Snape, Harry decided that they had spent enough time on Patronuses and the time had come for them to learn something new.

"You've all done a really good job working on your Patronuses," Harry told everyone as they gathered before him. "I'm proud of what all you've accomplished, even if you didn't manage to conjure one. You are welcome to continue to practice on your own, but I think we've spent enough time on Patronuses."

There were several sighs of relief heard throughout the room but Harry pretended not to notice. "The next spell I'm going to be teaching you is called _Caligo..."_

xxx

The hallway was dark, so dark that the blonde nearly bumped into a suit of armor in his haste to get around the corner. Unfortunately, the two with him weren't as quick to dodge things, and both stumbled into the suit of armor, effectively knocking it over.

"_Silencio!" _hissed Malfoy as soon as he heard the other two stumble. With his fast reaction time, the armor made no noise as it fell. Crabbe and Goyle landed on top of each other on the floor. Malfoy rolled his eyes as the two fought to stand. Casting a glance at the suit of armor on the ground, Malfoy debated leaving it there. Finally, realizing that they didn't want to leave any trace of themselves so near Hufflepuff Commons, Malfoy muttered a quick spell that repaired the statue. Glaring at Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy continued on down the hall.

"Why can't we use any light?" grumbled Goyle for the fifth time that night. Malfoy sighed impatiently.

"Because we don't want to draw attention to ourselves."

"Oh."

Malfoy shook his head and walked the rest of the way down the hall. Once he got to the corner, he reached in his pocket and pulled out a rat. Surreptitiously glancing around the hall, he bent down and lowered the rodent to the ground.

"You know what to do," he whispered. Seeing the faint outline of the rat scurrying down the hall, Malfoy stood and turned to the other two. "Done."

"That's it?" asked Crabbe.

"That's it," answered Malfoy.

"What's it?" asked a new voice.

"_Lumos_!" Malfoy quickly lit his wand and looked around to see who had spoken. The ray of light illuminated the face of Blaise Zabini. Malfoy lowered his wand.

"Zabini," he greeted. "What are you doing out here this late at night?"

"I could ask you the same question," returned Zabini. Seeing Malfoy's eyes narrow, Zabini elaborated. "I saw you three leave and I wondered what you were doing."

"I see," stated Malfoy, turning to walk alongside Zabini.

"What _are_ you doing?" asked Zabini.

"Oh, nothing," said Malfoy smoothly. "We were just doing something useful for our master, is all. Nothing that you would know about."

Malfoy was clearly enjoying the fact that he knew what was going on and Zabini did not. Zabini rolled his eyes, grateful that the darkness hid his reaction from Malfoy.

"You really got to help him?" asked Zabini, hoping he sounded convincingly envious.

"Of course," Malfoy answered as they turned around the corner. "My father has been beside him since the last war, unlike some."

Zabini knew that that last comment had been directed at him. His father had only joined the Dark Lord at the end of last year. "You're lucky that you get to be informed of what's going on. What can I do to be more like you?"

Malfoy snorted. "You'll never be like me; you're not good enough. You may be a pureblood, but my father told me that your uncle's a Mudblood."

"What's that got to do with me?" demanded Zabini. He may not want to be a Death Eater, but that didn't mean that he thought any more highly of Muggles.

"He shames your family name," sneered Malfoy, as though it were the most obvious answer in the world. "No one in my family has ever come close to being seen with a Muggle, much less marrying one." (a/n: he doesn't know about Tonks, so no one tell him! D)

Zabini chose not to point out that his aunt hadn't married a Muggle but a Muggle-born. Instead he said, "Then how can I bring honor back to my family's name?"

Malfoy turned to look the other boy straight in the eye, holding his lighted wand up so he could see better. "That will wait to be seen." Malfoy lowered his wand and the two started walking again. "I saw you leaving a classroom right behind Snape the other day. What was that about?"

"Snape knows that we were all marked," Zabini started. "I figured that if I went and told him that I didn't want to be a Death Eater, he wouldn't tell Dumbledore."

"And what did that traitor do then?" asked Malfoy, eyeing Zabini closely.

"He went to Dumbledore. I told him that I didn't want to be a Death Eater. He wants me to be a spy."

"Why would you do that?" Malfoy asked suspiciously.

"I was hoping that our Lord would like a spy, since the last one proved to be another Mudblood-loving fool."

"You were hoping to get on his good side?" inquired Malfoy.

"Something like that," returned Zabini.

"Funny you should mention spies. Our Lord's already got one."

"Who?" inquired Zabini, genuinely curious.

Malfoy just smiled. "That's for me to know, and you to find out. That is, if the Dark Lord doesn't kill you for that stunt you pulled with Dumbledore. We'll be seeing him soon, though, don't worry. You'll find out then."

"Why will we be seeing him soon?" asked Zabini nervously.

"Because something good's about to happen."

With that Malfoy muttered the password and stepped in to the Slytherin common room. Zabini stood there for a moment. When he saw Crabbe and Goyle walk around the corner, he decided it was time to go in. He fell asleep thinking about what the Dark Lord was going to do to him when he found out what he had done, and who his new spy was.

xxx

"You did what?" snapped Snape.

"I thought it was a good idea," answered Zabini defensively. That way they wouldn't wonder why I was talking to you, and I might be able to get more stuff out of the Dark Lord if I can gain his trust."

"Nobody gains the Dark Lord's trust. He gives you an assignment thinking you will fail. If you don't he's pleased, but if you do then it's nothing more than he expected." Snape sighed. "What's done is done. We'll simply have to wait and see what happens. What were you saying about a spy?"

"Malfoy said that there was another spy, but I don't know who it is or even if that person's at Hogwarts. I think he is here, though, because Malfoy was near Hufflepuff Commons. I don't think he'd be there unless he was talking to the spy."

"A Hufflepuff," said Snape, so low that Zabini was sure he was talking to himself. "I don't recall seeing a Hufflepuff last time..."

"Maybe he joined after you left," Zabini put in. Snape ignored him.

"Anything else?" the Potions Master inquired. Zabini thought a moment.

"He said that I'll probably be seeing the Dark Lord soon; something good's about to happen."

"Great," muttered Snape darkly.

"What do you think it could be?" asked Zabini.

"Anything," said Snape. "All I know is that it won't be good."

_Well I could have told you that, _thought Zabini. _I just wonder how bad it's going to be. _

xxx

Barely a week passed before they found out just how bad Voldemort's good news was. Harry and his friends were seated at the Gryffindor table when Hermione's normal delivery owl flew in and dropped the Daily Prophet in front of her. She placed a galleon in the owl's money patch, opened the paper, and spit her orange juice out all over it.

"You have got to stop drinking while opening the paper," Ron told her, looking up from his eggs to see what had caused such a reaction. He and Harry leaned closer and both nearly fell out of their seats when they read the headline:

_Dementors Leave Azkaban:_

_All Captured Death Eaters Escape_

(author's note really quick: somehow, while reading OotP, I skipped over the line saying that the Dementors left. So this part's AU, since I'm ignoring the part in book 5 that said they're already gone.)

**Chapter 19: Awareness**

"Damn it, Harry, stop it!"

At Ron's outburst, Harry quit pacing around and slumped into his seat in front of the fire. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville were sitting across from him. For a moment Harry was still, but found he had too much adrenaline in him or something, making sitting still impossible. He jumped to his feet and began pacing again. Ron sighed and rolled his eyes.

"How could this have happened?" Harry asked no one in particular. "How could we not have known that this was going to happen?"

But Harry already knew the answer. The reason that they didn't know that this was going to happen was because their one and only spy had just been fired: because of him. Hermione read his thoughts and decided to change the direction this conversation was going in.

"What was Professor Snape saying before we left?"

Harry knew what Hermione was doing and silently thanked her for it. He thought back to the conversation that had just taken place in the headmaster's office, right after breakfast. Just before he left, Snape had pulled him to the side and warned him to be careful.

"He said that Voldemort has a new spy, and that we should be careful."

"There's a spy at Hogwarts?" asked Ginny, shocked.

"He wasn't sure if the spy's at Hogwarts or whether it's just a spy in general, but he thinks that it's at Hogwarts."

"I bet it's Malfoy," said Ron confidently. The others rolled their eyes.

"Of course it's not Malfoy," snapped Harry, too busy trying to think of whom the spy was to worry about hurting Ron's feelings. "The whole point of being a spy is to get information from one side and then give it to the other. None of us would trust Malfoy, so how could he get information from us?"

"Good point," conceded Ron, thinking over what he said earlier. "Then who can it be?"

"I don't know," answered Harry, dropping into his seat again. "He said to watch out for the Hufflepuffs." The others looked shocked at this news, but didn't comment.

"What are we going to do?" asked Neville. "Are we going to tell the other students that there's a spy and that they should be careful, or would that be worse?"

"Worse than what?" retorted Harry, only half-serious. He sighed and put his head in his hands. "With the dementors gone, Voldemort now has all of his old supporters back along with the most awful creatures in the world. Everyone knows that. I don't think that making people even more afraid would help anything. What we should do is just tell them to be on the lookout for suspicious behavior, to go nowhere without at least one other person with them, and to trust no one that they didn't know before this year. If they see anything out of the ordinary, they should come directly to one of us. Sound good?"

The others nodded, so Harry leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. He heard padded feet and then something heavy landed in his lap. Glancing down, he saw that it was Crookshanks. Looking back up at the ceiling, Harry ran a hand through the cat's fur. Finally, after several minutes of silence, Ron spoke.

"This war just keeps getting worse and worse for us, doesn't it?" he asked. The others looked at him. "I mean, You-Know-Who now has all of his Death Eaters, most of the giants, and now every dementor. What do we have?"

Harry stayed silent after Ron's little speech, still petting Crookshanks. Ron was right; what did they have? Harry thought back to the speech that Voldemort gave on the night he came back. "The dementors will join us...our natural allies...recall the banished giants...an army of which most fear..." _Now what are we supposed to do? _he thought, looking down at the cat in his lap. That was when he noticed something...

All while he had been sitting in Harry's lap, Crookshanks had had a spider dangling out of his mouth. Having been so caught up in this new dilemma, Harry hadn't noticed. Ron, who had noticed Harry become so still, looked over at him in concern. He was about to ask if his friend was all right, but then he saw the spider in the cat's mouth.

"Does he have to eat that right in front of us?" Ron asked, scooting away from the cat. "You know I hate spiders!"

Ginny and Neville laughed because Ron was sounding so pathetic. Hermione laughed because she was thinking of when Ron had said the same thing three years ago. Ron yelled at them all because they were laughing at him. Harry was the only one who remained silent, looking from the spider hanging out of Crookshanks' mouth to the eyes that the cat had fixed upon him. Then everything fell into place.

"Aragog."

Ron stopped mid-rant to look at Harry. "What?"

"Aragog," Harry repeated, louder this time. "The giant spider that Hagrid sent us to see at the end of second year, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember him, " said Ron. "What's your point?"

"Maybe he could help us."

Ron looked as if Harry had lost his mind. "Help us? He tried to eat us, remember?"

"Well, there's that," agreed Harry. "But after everything that Hagrid did for him, don't you think that he'd help him if asked?"

"Of course he would," said Ron sarcastically. "That's why he tried to kill us the last time that Hagrid sent us to help him."

"Well, that's because he didn't know us," reasoned Harry. "I think he'd agree if Hagrid asked him to. Besides, I think he'd do what we asked him to if he knew it would hurt the person who got Hagrid expelled."

Ron looked thoughtful for a moment. Everyone else looked confused.

"Who got Hagrid expelled?" asked Ginny.

"Voldemort," said Harry, not bothering to look up. If he had, he would have seen two jaws drop simultaneously.

"And, uh, who's Aragog?" asked Neville, recovering from the shock of learning who got Hagrid expelled.

"An acromantula that lives in the Forest," Harry told him. "When Hagrid was thirteen, someone gave him Aragog. Hagrid took care of him and fed him and everything. But then Voldemort, then Tom Riddle, opened the Chamber of Secrets and killed a student. You know her as Moaning Myrtle. Anyway, he put the blame on Hagrid for opening the chamber, claiming that Aragog was what killed Myrtle. Hagrid was expelled, but he managed to sneak Aragog out of the castle before they could kill him. He's lived in the forest ever since, only now he has a wife and kids as well."

"A lot of kids," added Ron, starting to get pale just thinking about that day out in the forest.

"When are we going to go talk to Hagrid?" asked Hermione. "We have class in twenty minutes."

"We can go talk to him after dinner," said Harry. "What do you guys think?"

"About your idea or about seeing Hagrid after dinner?" Ron asked seriously.

"The idea."

"I think we should make the suggestion to Hagrid and see what he thinks," said Hermione. "But I think maybe only us three should go." She turned to Neville and Ginny. "No offence, but I don't know if Hagrid really wanted everyone to know that stuff about Aragog, so it might be better if you two didn't come with us."

"That's understandable," agreed Neville. Ginny looked a little pissed off, but she agreed anyway.

"Tell us what he says."

xxx

That night after dinner, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked down to Hagrid's hut. They knocked on the door, heard Fang bark, and waited for the door to open. It finally did, and Hagrid ushered them inside.

"What can I do fer ya?" he asked, getting out some teacups. "Tea?"

"Yes, please," they answered, sitting around the table. They sat quietly while Hagrid prepared the tea. After a few minutes, he placed a big cup of tea in front of each of them and sat down across from them.

"So, what brings you lot down here?" he asked. Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, indicating that he should talk.

"Well," he began. "This morning we were talking about the dementors leaving Azkaban and—"

"Terrible, tha' is," interrupted Hagrid. "All o'em dementors leavin'...all o'em prisoners escapin'...wha's next?"

"Well, that's actually what we wanted to talk to you about," said Harry. "We know that Voldemort" (he ignored Hagrid's wince) "has got a lot of supporters and that we don't have that many. We were thinking that maybe Aragog would help us."

Hagrid nodded his head, then stopped, really thinking about what Harry just said. He turned to look at the young wizard as though he had lost his mind.

"What?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Aragog, you know, the giant spider you sent us to find second year? We were thinking that he would help us if you asked him."

Hagrid thought for a moment. "Well...I s'pose he might..."

"We figured we'd give you the suggestion and then see if it was worth giving to Dumbledore," said Hermione.

"I'll tell him at the next meeting," Hagrid told him, taking a sip of tea and looking down at his watch. "It's gettin' late, you lot better get back up to the castle."

They nodded and got up. Hagrid walked them to the door. "Have a good night," he told them.

"Goodnight," they returned. They turned and started heading up to the castle.

"Do you think he's really going to tell Dumbledore?" asked Hermione as soon as they were sure that Hagrid was inside and out of earshot. "He seemed like he didn't really want to."

"I think he will," said Harry. "I think he's just nervous since if Dumbledore agrees, Hagrid's the one who's going to have to go in the forest."

"Better him than us," is all Ron said. Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes. Harry looked at his watch.

"Damn! I'm late for Snape. I'll see you guys later," said Harry as he tore off towards the castle. Ron and Hermione watched him leave.

"Extra lessons with Snape," muttered Ron, shaking his head. "Poor boy's losing his mind."

xxx

"Potter, if you can't show up on time you might as well not show up at all," said Snape idly as Harry burst into the room.

"I'm-sorry—Professor—we went—to talk—to Hagrid and—lost track of—time," panted Harry, bending over to catch his breath. He took a few deep breaths and then looked up at Snape, who was grading essays behind his desk. "It won't happen again."

"I know it won't," said Snape dangerously, "because if it does these lessons will stop and you'll have to go ask the wolf to teach you."

Harry pushed back his anger at hearing Lupin referred to as "the wolf." "Yes, sir."

Snape pushed the essays aside and stood up, drawing his wand as he went.

"The spell I am going to teach you today is hard to learn but can be very useful. It's called _Veneficus Exhibeo. _What it does is show you every magical person in whatever room you're in. If you're outside it will show everyone within a twenty foot radius of yourself."

"What if they're under an Invisibility cloak or something?" asked Harry.

Snape's lip curled at the question. "Invisibility cloaks, Disillusionment Charms, Animagus forms, it doesn't matter."

"What about Polyjuice?" asked Harry,

"The imposter's name will appear instead of the person he's pretending to be."

"But then...if all you have to do is say those two words," said Harry slowly, "why didn't anyone realize that Moody was really Crouch—"

"There are ways to block yourself from being given away," said Snape impatiently. "The spell is only useful if the person you're trying to find doesn't know about it. Crouch knew that he had to be careful, therefore he blocked himself. A classmate, however, would not know about it, and therefore wouldn't know to block himself."

"So I'd know if there was someone listening close by?" asked Harry.

"Bravo, Mr. Potter," said Snape sarcastically. "Perhaps you do possess a brain cell or two."

It took all of Harry's willpower not to roll his eyes at Snape's comment. "Am I going to be learning to block it today, or just how to cast it?"

"Cast it," responded Snape. "Once you've mastered that we'll worry about blocking it."

Harry nodded his head in understanding. "Okay, what's the incantation again?"

Snape rolled his eyes. "_Veneficus Exhibeo."_

Harry pulled out his wand and raised it. "Should I be concentrating on something?" he asked.

"Just concentrate on saying the spell correctly," Snape told him.

"_Veneficus Exhibeo,"_ said Harry, trying to remember how Snape had pronounced it. Nothing happened.

"It's ven-eff-icus," Snape snapped, "not ven-if-icus."

"_Veneficus_," Harry repeated, awaiting Snape's nod before continuing. "_Veneficus Exhibeo!" _

After the boy's twentieth time with the spell, Snape was starting to get frustrated. Feeling a harsh remark coming on, Harry concentrated even harder on the spell.

"_Veneficus Exhibeo!" _

That time, when Harry said the words, he felt something in the air change, though what changed he didn't know. The words _Severus Snape _shown in black letters inches in front of the Potions master. Harry stared at the words in awe for a moment before they disappeared.

"Judging from the look on your face, I will assume that it worked," said Snape, bringing Harry back to reality.

"Wh—yeah. It worked."

"Good," said Snape in a business-like voice. "Tomorrow you'll learn to block yourself."

"Yes, sir," said Harry, tucking his wand away. He turned to leave. "Goodnight."

Snape said nothing, as usual, and Harry walked back to Gryffindor tower.

**Chapter 20: A Business Trip**

After weeks of training with Snape and practicing with the DA, Harry was very relieved when the Easter holidays rolled around. Since so many people were going home to their families, the DA was postponed and since Snape had things for the Order to do, his lessons were postponed. He had given Harry two books to read and take notes over during his absence, of course, but Harry had suspected as much.

What he had not expected was to be informed that he, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville were to be staying at Grimmauld Place for the break. He didn't know the exact reason; after hearing something about his safety he had stopped listening. As Harry prepared to leave he thought about it and figured that no one wanted him to be left alone at school while the Order had a meeting.

That brought him to wonder if Hagrid was going to mention his idea to them or not. He had said that he would, but Harry had a feeling that the half-giant didn't want any more suspicious looks being thrown his way. Harry understood how he felt.

xxx

The next week found Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville gathered in one of the sitting rooms of Grimmauld Place. Ron and Neville were in the middle of a chess game; Ginny and Luna were going over some of the spells Harry had taught them; Hermione was doing her homework and Harry was reading the book Snape gave him, taking notes as he went.

At the moment Harry started on his tenth page of notes Ron looked up from his game.

"The git's assigning you more work now?" asked Ron incredulously. Rolling his eyes at Ron's name-calling, Harry nodded.

"Since we're not meeting during break he told me to read this book and take notes," he explained.

"Whatever," said Ron. "You're loss, not mine."

Harry didn't know what exactly Ron thought he had lost, but he didn't care to ask. Instead he turned the page and started reading the next chapter.

"Well, I think it's good that Harry's taking an interest in something," said Hermione without looking up from her work.

"As long as he's doing school work you're happy," muttered Ron. "If he were interested in Quidditch you'd tell him it was a waste of time."

"Quidditch is a waste of time!" snapped Harry. Ron looked over at him. Harry sighed and placed his pen in his book, marking his spot. "I'm going to go get something to eat; you guys want anything?"

They all shook their heads no. Harry got up and walked out of the room. In truth he wasn't really hungry; he just wanted to get out of that room before Ron said something else that he didn't agree with.

xxx

Normally Remus Lupin was a very on-task sort of person. He knew what he had to do and he usually did it without his mind wandering off to something else. However, having gone searching for his suitcase which he had misplaced the other day, the werewolf stumbled across Sirius' old stuff. Not sure if he should look or not, Lupin debated with himself for a good ten minutes before deciding that Sirius wouldn't have minded and opened the trunk.

Inside were pictures from when they were in school. There were pictures of Sirius and James, pictures of James and Lily, pictures of the four Marauders. Lupin noticed that several of the pictures had holes in them, presumably where Pettigrew's head should have been. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry at that, Lupin turned his gaze to something else: a mirror. He picked it up to examine it closer.

Not until he saw the initials _S.B. _carved onto the back of it did he realize what it was: one of the mirrors that James and Sirius had always used to contact each other. Remus laughed at a quick memory of the two pranksters when they were at Hogwarts. Looking fondly down at the mirror, he realized that there was only one mirror. Where was the other one? Then he remembered that Sirius had been planning on giving the second mirror to Harry so that the two could communicate better. Lupin had never asked if Sirius had actually given Harry the mirror or not. Deciding that he had spent enough time not-packing, Lupin grabbed the closest thing he could find to his suitcase and left, intending on talking to Harry later.

xxx

When Lupin entered the kitchen twenty minutes later, he found Harry sitting at the table reading a book. The teen looked up as the older man entered the room and gave him a small smile to show that his acknowledgement before continuing to read. Lupin walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out the ingredients to make a sandwich. Then he asked if Harry wanted one.

"No thanks," he declined. "I told Ron and the others that I was going to make one, but I'm not really all that hungry. If they ask, though, would you tell them that you saw me eat one?"

"Sure," answered Lupin, smiling slightly. "Why are you down here?"

"Ron was pissing me off," he replied, closing his book. "He doesn't understand how important my learning these spells is. He still thinks that I'd be better off rejoining the Quidditch team."

"Have you explained to him why this is so important to you?" asked Lupin, sitting down across from Harry, who shook his head.

"He wouldn't understand. I'd have to tell him the prophecy, and I really don't want to."

"Why?" Lupin asked.

"I don't want them to look at me differently," Harry explained. "And besides, they already expect me to save them to some extent; everybody does. If I tell them the prophecy they'll know for sure that I'm the only who can do anything. Then when I can't do it they'll all know to blame me for failing; and I don't think that I can stand that."

"They're your friends," Lupin reminded him. "They wouldn't blame you for failing."

"Right," scoffed Harry, unconvinced. "My whole life I've been a failure. How is this time going to be any different?"

"You're not a failure," Lupin told him seriously.

"Yeah, just go ask Sirius. Oh, that's right, you can't!"

"Sirius would never consider you a failure," said Lupin instantly. "Nor would he blame you for what happened."

"Look, just forget I said anything," said Harry, pushing himself away from the table.

"No," said Lupin, getting up and pushing him gently back into the seat. Harry was too tired to protest. "Harry, we've gone over this. Sirius would never have blamed you for what happened. There was no way for you to know that what you saw wasn't real, that he wasn't really in danger—"

"Yes there was!" Harry protested, pushing away from Lupin once more. "That mirror—that stupid mirror—he gave it to me before I went back to Hogwarts! He told me to use it if I ever needed to talk to him! But I didn't use it; I didn't even know that I had it. I never opened it. And you know why? Because I didn't want to be the one to lure him out of hiding!" Harry suddenly burst into hysterical laughter, though he obviously found nothing funny.

Lupin placed a comforting hand on Harry's back and began to rub in smoothing circles. Harry kept his head down, not saying anything and allowing Lupin to comfort him. Lupin remained silent for a moment, debating whether or not to ask the question burning on his mind. Finally, curiosity got the better of him.

"Do you still have that mirror?" Harry looked up at him, guilt evident on his face.

"Yeah, but, I...um...well, yes. I still have it. It's just...sort of...broken."

"Broken?" Lupin repeated. "How did it break?"

Harry's cheeks reddened a little. "When I realized what it was, I sort of threw it against a wall."

"Ah," Lupin nodded in understanding. "A reasonable reaction. Can I see the pieces?"

"Sure," said Harry slowly. "They're up in my trunk. Do you want me to get them now?"

"If you wouldn't mind. I'm leaving tomorrow and I would really like to have it fixed before I leave."

"You're leaving?" asked Harry, surprised. "Why?" After seeing the older man hesitate, Harry added, "Never mind, Order Business. You can't tell me."

"Actually, I suppose I can, just as long as you don't tell anyone."

Harry nodded even though they both knew that he would tell Ron and Hermione.

"Do you remember that werewolf that we saw at St. Mungo's while we were visiting Mr. Weasley?"

Harry thought for a moment before nodding his head.

"Well, I've been keeping in touch with him, and he told me about his village. Practically all of the people are werewolves, and those who aren't are related to someone who is. They live in peace there without having to worry about being accepted."

"Sounds like a nice place," Harry said, wondering if his teacher wished to live there as well.

"It is," agreed Lupin. "I have been assigned to that village. I have to talk to them about the war."

"How long will you be gone?" Harry asked, a feeling of foreboding rising in him.

"A month, maybe more," Lupin told him. "I should be back before school lets out, but there's no guarantee."

"Is there any risk involved?" asked Harry, trying to calm his nerves.

"Harry, this is a war," Lupin gently reminded him. "There's always going to be a risk involved. We don't think that Voldemort's going to try anything right away, but considering that he's starting to gain a strong army, there's a good possibility that he's going to aim for the werewolves. Whether he knows about the community where I'm going or not, I have no idea."

Harry sighed, knowing that Lupin was right: there was always a risk when Voldemort was involved.

"Why don't you go get me that mirror?" asked Lupin. "That way, if you're worried, you can check on me."

"That's a good idea," Harry agreed, slowly getting up from the table. "Finding all of the pieces might take me a while, though, since there's a lot of them. Some of them are bound to be really small..."

"I don't need every shard," Lupin smiled. "And don't cut yourself; just get as many of the big pieces that you can manage."

"Okay," Harry said before leaving the room.

When he reached his room, the first thing he noticed was that Ron and the others were not there. Breathing a sigh of relief and not caring where they went, Harry walked over to his trunk and bent down. He carefully removed all of its contents and began picking up the pieces of the broken mirror. He couldn't believe that he had kept it in there all this time. Following Lupin's request, Harry left all of the tiny pieces of glass in the trunk, removing any piece that was big enough for him to use three fingers to hold.

After placing the glass shards on one of his shirts, Harry put everything back into his trunk. Then he carried the shirt of shards back downstairs. Lupin was still in the kitchen, staring at the nearest wall. He looked up when Harry walked in and placed his shirt on the table. Looking at the pieces, Lupin began to turn them all right-side up. After a moment, Harry realized what the man was doing and started to help. A minute later all of the pieces were facing the same direction. Drawing out his wand, Lupin muttered, "_Reparo!" _

Instantly, the pieces flew together and the mirror repaired itself. Picking the mirror up, Lupin inspected it for a moment before passing it to Harry. Then he picked up his own mirror.

"Harry Potter."

A moment later Harry felt the mirror he was holding begin to shake and heat up. Holding it up to his face, Harry saw Lupin's face staring up at him. Harry looked back and forth between the Lupin in the mirror and the Lupin right in front of him.

"Weird," he muttered. Lupin laughed at him.

"Your mother had a similar reaction when she first saw them. I believe she said it reminded her of a walkie-talkie."

Harry thought for a moment. "Yeah, I suppose it does. Only walkie-talkies don't allow you to see the person you're talking to."

"So I've been told," smiled Lupin. "Your father found that very interesting. He hadn't realized that Muggles could come up with such things without magic. Your mother went into a lot of detail about batteries that day."

Harry laughed. "That sounds like a conversation Mr. Weasley would like to have been involved in."

"Yes, it does," agreed Lupin. "It would have been interesting to see the two of them meet; Lily loved to explain how things worked to someone who was actually interested in what she was saying."

"Does that mean that my dad wasn't interested in what she was saying?" asked Harry, any previous anger he might have felt towards his father disappearing.

"Oh, he was interested, for a little while. But he would get rather confused when she started talking about electricity, and nothing she could say made any sense to him. And if there's one thing James hated, it was not understanding something the first time around. So pretty soon he would just stop listening to her."

"Bet she loved that," Harry laughed, his parents sounding a lot like Ron and Hermione.

"Oh yeah," said Lupin dryly. "I remember one time that he stopped listening she got so mad that she cast the Ricosonance Jinx on him."

"What's that?" asked Harry, unconsciously reaching out to find paper to write the new curse on before realizing that he had none.

"It's a spell used to block out any sound from the victim," Lupin explained. "Basically, it's the opposite of a silencing charm. The person can still talk, but they can't hear anyone around them."

"If she was mad at him for not listening to her why would she make it so that he couldn't hear anything at all?" asked Harry.

"Because the spell lasts for twenty-four hours," Lupin explained. "He had to go a whole day without hearing a word his professors were saying. They eventually realized that he was really under a spell, but he sure did get in a lot of trouble..."

Harry lay in bed that night thinking. Nobody had ever told him stories about his parents before, and Harry decided that he liked it. He also realized that he had horrible timing. Here he was really finally talking to Lupin and enjoying their conversations about his parents when Lupin was leaving tomorrow. He was really going to miss his professor, Harry determined. He really didn't want the other man to go. Sighing, Harry tried to go to sleep.

After waking up from a horrible nightmare of death eaters terrorizing a defenseless community of werewolves, Harry decided that he wasn't going to get any sleep. Instead, he decided to wait downstairs for Lupin to come down. He knew that the older man was going to leave early so as to avoid a big farewell, and Harry had to make sure that he got to say goodbye.

Lupin appeared downstairs a little before six the following morning. He found Harry curled up on a chair in the entranceway, asleep. Lupin gently shook the teen awake. Harry, not having realized that he had fallen asleep, jumped when he found himself face-to-face with Lupin.

"Jesus Christ, you scared me!" Harry sank back in his seat, rubbed his eyes, and yawned.

"Sorry," grinned Lupin. "What are you doing down here?"

"Waiting for you," said Harry sheepishly. "I didn't want you to leave before I got a chance to say goodbye."

"So you slept down here?" asked Lupin incredulously.

"Well, I didn't really mean to fall asleep," Harry told him. "That was sort of an accident. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to wait down here. I guess I was more tired than I thought."

"You should go back upstairs and get some sleep," directed Lupin.

"I will," Harry lied. "I just had to say goodbye first, and thanks for telling me about my parents yesterday. No one's every done that before, and...well, thanks."

"No problem," smiled Lupin. He reached forward and pulled Harry into a hug. Harry stiffened in surprise for a moment before he hugged the man back, trying to ignore the ominous feeling in his stomach. After a moment they pulled apart and Lupin looked at Harry.

"Is the mirror in a safe place?"

Harry nodded. "It's in the pocket of my robes."

"Good, keep it there. You can use it at anytime. If I don't answer it right away don't be alarmed, okay? I might be in a meeting or something and not be able to answer it. If that happens I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible, okay?"

Harry nodded.

"Oh, there's one more thing. If you try to reach me and can't, you simply say 'leave message' into the mirror and then you can, well, leave a message for me. I can do the same to you. If you have the mirror on you you'll hear a faint beeping sound, but only for a moment. The word 'message' will appear on the top of the glass. All you have to do is say 'listen' and you'll get the message."

"Now it sounds like a cell phone," Harry said, thinking back to the last birthday present he had seen Dudley with. When Lupin looked slightly confused, Harry smiled a little and said, "I'll explain it when you get back."

"Okay," agreed Lupin. He looked at his watch. "I'm sorry to do this, but I really have to go."

"I understand," said Harry, resisting the urge to bind the werewolf up and refuse to let him leave. "I'll talk to you soon."

"Same here," said Lupin. "Don't get into too much trouble."

"I'll try," Harry responded, trying to smile. "Be careful."

"I will," Lupin promised.

As he watched the older man leave, Harry couldn't help but feel like he was never going to see the man again.


	6. Chapters 21 to 23

**Chapter 21: Fear**

A twig snapped in half, causing Hagrid to jump up at the unexpected noise. Shaking his head, the giant proceeded into the forest. For a moment he thought he heard a nearby bush shake. Clutching his bow a little closer, Hagrid walked a little faster. Though he normally wasn't afraid of the Forest, he couldn't help remember what the centaurs had done to his little brother the year before. Grawp had nearly been killed and had had to be sent to a special hospital in France for his injuries. Hagrid hadn't been to see him in almost six months, but Olympe Maxime had assured him that his little brother was getting better.

Before long, Hagrid came across a familiar path of spider scurrying along the forest floor. Taking a few more large strides, Hagrid pushed back a couple of branches and found himself in the midst of a large gathering of acromantulas in various sizes. Upon seeing a man, a few of the large spiders began to advance. One of the older spiders stopped them.

"Do you not know who this man is?" asked the elder acromantula. The younger ones shook their heads no.

"This is Hagrid," he continued. "He is the reason that we all have a home in the forest. You are not to harm him; understand?"

"Yes," answered the youth, turning and walking off into the forest. The oldest one remained and looked at Hagrid.

"Long time," he said. "What can we do for you?"

"I have ta speak ta Aragog," Hagrid told him.

"What about?" asked the spider.

"Tha's between me an' 'im," said Hagrid. "It won' take but a minute."

"I'll tell him that you're here," responded the spider as he left. After a moment Aragog appeared. As he walked over to Hagrid, the others scuttled out of the way, leaving the two alone.

"Hagrid, what brings you here?" asked the ancient spider.

"Bad business, I'm afraid," said Hagrid. "I s'pose ya've heard about You-Know-Who by now?"

"Indeed we have," replied Aragog, a hint of vehemence in his voice. "What about him?"

"I've come here fer Albus Dumbledore," said Hagrid, attempting to sound as business-like as possible.

"What does he want?" asked Aragog, the anger not yet subsiding.

"He wan's ya to join our side in tha war."

"No."

The ancient spider turned and started to walk away. Hagrid stood for a second, watching him. Then he hurried forward.

"Aragog, please. Ya gotta help us—"

"I don't have to do anything for your people!" snapped Aragog. "Your people are the ones who try to get rid of us. Your people are the ones who want to destroy us. We will have no part in helping you conquer the planet."

"We're not tryin' to!" protested Hagrid. "You-Know-Who's the one who wants ya dead. He's tha one 'at had that basilisk roamin' aroun'---"

"Don't mention it's name," commanded Aragog. "I know perfectly well who he is and what he has done. We won't be helping him either if he ever dares to show up here. We do not negotiate with humans of any kind. We have not harmed you and we never shall. We owe you that much. We owe them nothing and will give them nothing."

"But—" Hagrid wasn't willing to give up easily and let Dumbledore down. Aragog, however, had other ideas.

"You're not going to persuade me," he said firmly. "Now I recommend you get out of this forest quickly. There are those who do not want you around, those who are much more willing to harm you than we are. Goodbye, my friend."

Hagrid watched Aragog leave. That meeting had been much shorter and much less successful than he had thought. Sighing, he turned around and started to walk back around out of the forest. He hadn't gotten more than a hundred feet before an arrow came whizzing out of nowhere and flew into a tree an inch above his head.

Instinctively, Hagrid ducked down and aimed his bow in the direction that the shot had come from. He was not fast enough, however, and a pair of hooves immediately shot out and kicked him in the face, effectively knocking him the ground. Still holding onto his bow with one hand, Hagrid aimed it at the nearest of ten centaurs who had started to gather around him. The centaur was too close, however, and knocked the weapon from his hand before the giant could shoot. With one quick stomp, the bow snapped and lay in little, broken pieces all over the forest floor. Hagrid gulped and looked up into the nearest centaur's eyes.

"Well, well, well...look who we've got here," he sneered, backing away from the giant a little. "I thought we made it clear last time that you weren't to come here anymore."

"I was jus'—" Hagrid began but the centaur cut him off.

"One would think that after seeing one's brother nearly killed he would venture a little farther away," continued the centaur.

"I wasn't lookin' fer trouble," said Hagrid.

"Then what was the bow for?" asked another centaur, kicking the broken bits of wood as he spoke.

"Protection," said Hagrid. "Look, I was just havin' a wor' with a friend er mine, okay? I'll just get outta yer way now..."

Just as Hagrid turned to leave, an arrow came whizzing out of the sky and landed right in front of him.

"I don't think you'll be going anywhere," said the centaur who shot the arrow. "You see, if we let you go, we'll have to let everyone else who wanders around in our forest go as well. And if we let everyone go, how will they ever learn to take us seriously?"

"Look—" began Hagrid but the centaur cut him off again.

"Had this been your first visit into our forest, we might have let you go," he said in a mockingly kind voice. Hagrid noticed that the other centaurs seemed to be forming a circle around him as he listened. "But seeing as how we've caught you here repeated times, and you helped the traitor, Firenze, escape..." The centaur raised his bow and pointed in directly at Hagrid. "I rather think you've run out of chances."

**Chapter 22: Doubt**

Harry, Ron, and Hermione lay in the shade. This was Harry's favorite spot on the yard. The giant tree protected them from the sun. With the lake only about ten feet away, it was the perfect place to feel the wind as it whipped through the trees of the Forbidden Forest. And speaking of the Forbidden Forest...what was that giant shape moving around in the trees? It was really tall and seemed to be limping. Seeing what looked like blood covering the figure, Harry began to feel slightly nauseous. Noticing their friend turn pale, Ron and Hermione quickly looked over in the direction that Harry was looking. They, too, saw the giant figure: a figure that looked awfully like—

"HAGRID!"

The three teens jumped up and, abandoning their homework, ran over to their friend. Hermione gasped and started to cry.

Hagrid was covered in scratches from head to toe. Blood dripped down his face and arms. His clothes were in tatters. There was a large bruise on the top of his head and the giant looked ready to collapse.

"H-Hagrid, what happened to you?" asked Harry shakily.

"Wenter see Aragog," slurred the giant. "Attacked by centaurs..."

Hermione gasped again and began to cry harder. Ron was still gazing in horrified shock at the giant. Harry seemed to be the only one who hadn't lost the ability to talk.

"We have to get you to the hospital wing—"

"Forget th'ospital 'ing," wheezed Hagrid. "I'm fine."

Harry had just opened his mouth to protest when Hagrid collapsed on the ground with such force that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had to struggle to keep standing. Harry looked down in shock for a moment before coming to his senses.

"I have to go get Madame Pomfrey..."

"Shouldn't you get Dumbledore first?" asked Hermione in a small voice.

"You're right," agreed Harry. "I'll go get him; you keep people away from Hagrid."

Sure enough, a small crowd had started to gather around the fallen giant. Harry pushed his way around them, literally cursing anyone who got in his way. He practically flew up the steps into the castle and sprinted all the way to Dumbledore's office. Out of breath, Harry panted out the password and jogged up the stairs. Without even bothering to knock, Harry flew open the door and ran inside.

"Professor Dumbledore, Hagrid—"

"Potter, do you even bother to knock?"

Harry groaned. Of course Snape would be in here now. Through the window, Harry caught a glimpse of the field where Hagrid lay. More people seemed to be gathering.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Hagrid just got back from the Forest and he's covered in blood—"

"I'm sure he'll be fine," snarled Snape. "He's dealt with these things before. Now, if you'll excuse us—"

"He's not fine!" snapped Harry, interrupting Snape's falsely polite behavior and turning to Dumbledore. "Professor, Hagrid collapsed as soon as he walked out of the Forest. Look out your window! There are about twenty kids out there, all dying to see what happened to Hagrid!"

Dumbledore and Snape simultaneously turned to stare out the window. The headmaster rose and began to walk out of his office.

"Severus, I'm afraid we'll have to postpone this meeting."

"Of course," said Snape curtly. "Good day, Albus."

Without another word to Harry, Snape strode out of the office. Dumbledore nodded to the other man before following him out the door. Harry hurried after him.

"Should I get Madame Pomfrey?" he asked.

"That won't be necessary," said Dumbledore. "If I know Poppy like I think I do, she's most likely already out there."

He was, of course, correct. Fighting their way through the ever growing crowd, Harry and Dumbledore spotted Madame Pomfrey leaning over Hagrid, administering potions and healing salves to his wounds. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna had their wands drawn and were attempting to keep the crowd away from Hagrid. Dumbledore walked over to the nurse to see what could be done for Hagrid; Harry walked over to his friends.

"They won't go away!" whined Ron. "You would think that someone else's pain wouldn't be this ENTERTAINING!"

His words didn't seem to yield the desired effect. Instead of feeling ashamed and turning away, the crowd simply ignored the attack on their integrity and kept on craning to get a better look. Ron sneered in disgust and sent a rather nasty jinx at the nearest boy. The boy ducked, causing the spell to hit the girl behind him instead. The girl's friend shrieked and bent to help her friend. Both girls eventually rose and glared at Ron. Undeterred, Ron raised his wand again. Both girls sauntered away. Looking pleased with himself, Ron looked around for somebody else.

xxx

"How is he?" Harry asked tentatively. Miraculously, with a large amount of help and an even larger amount of detentions, they had managed to get Hagrid off the floor and into the infirmary. Madame Pomfrey, Snape, and Dumbledore had been in with him for nearly two hours and still Harry didn't know what was happening. Finally, the professors emerged. Unsurprising, Snape left without saying a word. Madame Pomfrey hurried away to her office. Dumbledore, however, remained to face Harry and his friends.

"We've done the best that we can for him," said Dumbledore.

"What about Fawkes?" asked Harry, thinking of the bird that he couldn't remember seeing in Dumbledore's office.

"I'm afraid that I sent him to help Kingsley on one of his assignments. Neither one of them will be returning for at least another month. There's not much more that we can do for Hagrid now. He was very gravely injured today. Madame Maxime, you remember her, yes?" He waited for their nods before continuing. "She knows of a good hospital in France. They handle all sorts of...people. She will accompany Hagrid there."

"Will he be all right?" asked Hermione tearfully.

"They'll do everything that they can for him," answered Dumbledore kindly. "The best we can do now is wait and see what happens. I think you lot had best get off to bed. We'll let you know if anything happens."

_Sure you will, _thought Harry cynically, though he nodded just the same.

xxx

"It's not your fault that Hagrid got hurt" were the first words out of Lupin's mouth as soon as he picked up the mirror. Startled, Harry shut his mouth and looked at his professor and friend.

"If it's not my fault then why did you feel the need to make sure that I knew that?" he asked.

"Because I know you, Harry," said Lupin kindly, "and you have a knack for blaming yourself for things that you had no control over. Like this. You are not to blame for the fact that twenty centaurs chose to gang up on Hagrid."

"But I am to blame for the fact that he was out there in the first place," argued Harry. "And how do you know that it was twenty?"

"Dumbledore managed to ask him a few questions this afternoon," Lupin told him. "And don't try to change the subject. It is not your fault that Hagrid was out there and got hurt."

"But it was my idea to ask Aragog," countered Harry.

"And a good idea it was," said Lupin.

"Now who's changing the subject?" frowned Harry. "If I had never suggested going to Aragog—"

"Then we would have missed out on a potentially important ally.," interrupted Lupin.

"But didn't Aragog say 'no' anyway?"

"Yes. But we never would have thought about that possibility had you not brought it up. Hagrid knew the dangers of going into that Forest long before he went in there. Dumbledore wouldn't have let him go alone if he didn't feel Hagrid was up to it. You have nothing to feel bad about. I'm sure Hagrid's going to be just fine."

"I hope so," said Harry. It suddenly dawned on him that Dumbledore had never really answered Hermione's question. As he continued to talk to Lupin, Harry felt that bad feeling in his stomach continue to grow. For some reason, he had the feeling that something very bad was about to happen.

**Chapter 23: Unwanted News**

A week had passed since Hagrid disappeared. They were told that Hagrid had been badly injured while gathering plants in the Forest for Professor Snape. Only Harry and his friends knew the truth. They harassed Professor McGonagall everyday for any information she might have on Hagrid, but everyday she told them that she knew nothing. Angered by her lack of information, Harry eventually stopped asking her.

What really angered Harry, however, was the fact that no one seemed to care that Hagrid was gone. And this wasn't like the last time that Hagrid had disappeared because everyone had found out that he was a half-giant. This time everyone had seen how badly he had been hurt. And still none of them seemed to care. Professor Grubblyplank returned and things returned to relative normality.

But still, Harry couldn't shake off the nagging feeling that something was wrong. When he tried talking to Ron and Hermione, they told him that he was being paranoid. Neville told him that he was just worried over the dementors.

"Of course you're worried," sympathized Ginny. "Anyone would be. Lupin's gone and now Hagrid is, too. I'm worried. But there's really nothing any of us can do about it. Lupin will be back in a few weeks. And I'm sure they'd tell us if anything really bad happened to Hagrid."

"Yeah, sure," Harry agreed, no feeling behind his words.

"There's nothing to worry about," said Ginny, sounding like she was trying to convince herself as well. If something happens, something happens. All we can do is wait and hope for the best."

Harry nodded. "Thanks, Ginny."

"No problem," she smiled. "Talk to you later."

"Yeah." He watched Ginny walk away. Sighing, he got up and decided to go for a walk. He needed to clear his mind before his meeting with Snape that night. He never saw the pair of gray eyes that had been watching his entire conversation with Ginny. Never saw the pale lips that curved into a smile as Ginny told Harry that there was nothing to worry about.

xxx

Hearing the portrait hole swing open, Blaise Zabini glanced up in time to see Draco Malfoy stride into the room. Zabini frowned at the smirk on Malfoy's face. Putting his quill in his book, he watch Malfoy make his way over to where Crabbe and Goyle were trying to turn each other into snakes. Ignoring both of them, Malfoy sat down on the nearest chair and leaned back, using the table in front of him as a footstool.

Closing his book, Zabini carefully made his way over to Malfoy. Sneering a little at Crabbe and Goyle, he turned his attention to the blonde.

"I couldn't help but notice the look of immense satisfaction on your face," he began smoothly as he dropped into the chair next to Malfoy's. "Tell me, what has you so pleased?"

"Don't you know?" asked Malfoy, feigning surprise. "What a shame. I know something and you don't. Oddly enough, this isn't the first time we've found ourselves in this situation, is it?"

Zabini flushed a little, remembering the last time he had caught Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle lurking near Hufflepuff. He got an odd feeling in his stomach. Malfoy's next statement intensified that feeling.

"It doesn't surprise me that you don't know what's going on. Father told me all about it," Malfoy bragged. Normally Zabini found Malfoy's ego extremely irritating. However, if it helped him learn what was going on...

"All about what?" he pushed.

"All about how Lupin's the next target," boasted Malfoy. "Father told me all about it. And I just heard Weasley tell Potter that he had nothing to worry about." Malfoy snickered.

"He's really going after Lupin?" asked Zabini, a hopeful look on his face.

"Not just Lupin," scoffed Malfoy. "All the werewolves. He's trying to gain the largest army, even larger than last time. Imagine having all the werewolves on our side, not to mention the giants and the Dementors. Potter and the rest of those Mudblood-lovers won't stand a chance."

"When is he planning on doing this?" Zabini sincerely hoped that he sounded eager and not fearful. Since Malfoy answered him, he assumed the former.

"Tonight, of course," sneered Malfoy. "The full moon's not for another two weeks, so there's no chance that anyone will be bitten...yet." Malfoy laughed again. "I wish I could be there. I'd love to be the one to get Lupin."

"Does He think that Lupin will join us?" asked Zabini.

"Of course not," said Malfoy as though Zabini was the stupidest person in the world. "Lupin would never join us. He's too close to Potter. What a shame, really," said Malfoy in a falsely disappointed voice. "He could have been an excellent way to get to Potter."

Zabini nodded his head in agreement. As Malfoy turned to watch Crabbe and Goyle's miserable attempts at magic, Zabini ran through the conversation in his head. The Dark Lord was going after the werewolves now? What was he supposed to do with this information? Was it too late to do anything about it? One thing was for certain: he needed to talk to Snape.

xxx

"Potter," sighed Snape, pinching the bridge of his nose, "you do realize that we've been at this for three days now and you have yet to get this right?"

"Well, Professor," spat Harry, "if this was easy, I wouldn't need your help, would I? Not that I get much of it anyway," he added under his breath.

"What was that?" snapped Snape.

"Nothing," answered Harry, though they both knew that Snape had heard exactly what was said.

"That better have been a 'thank you, Professor Snape, for wasting weeks of your time by attempting to teach my dim-witted self—"

"Professor Snape! Professor Snape!"

Snape's words were cut short by the sound of the door bursting open, quickly accompanied by a screaming voice. Harry and Snape both whirled around to see what had caused the disturbance. Their gazes fell on Blaise Zabini, who slammed the door shut and turned to face his professor. He didn't seem to acknowledge the fact that Harry was in the room.

"Professor Snape, the Dark Lord's going to get the werewolves to join him!"

"What?" snapped Harry and Snape at the same time. Harry was concerned about Lupin; Snape was concerned about Potter hearing this information.

"Mr. Zabini," began Snape coldly, "did it ever occur to you to look around before opening your mouth?"

"N-not really, sir," said Zabini truthfully, his gaze turning to Harry for the first time. "I really had to talk to you."

"Potter, get out," snapped Snape. "We shall finish this some other time."

"But if something's happening to Lupin—"

"Nothing is happening to Lupin!" spat Snape, knowing full-well that the chances that he was lying right now were incredibly high. "I believe I told you to leave."

Harry looked incredulously at Snape, then turned his glance to Zabini. The Slytherin looked like he was trying to keep his expression unreadable but was failing miserably. One look told Harry that Lupin was indeed in trouble. Without a word to either Slytherin, Harry took off out of the room and ran back up to Gryffindor tower.

"Must I remind you to be careful?" Snape hissed as soon as Harry was out of the room. "He wasn't meant to know that you were in any way connected to the Dark Lord!"

Zabini gulped audibly.

"Lucky for you, the boy is probably so concerned about his damn wolf he won't stop to think about you. But what if I had had Malfoy in here?"

"I know you didn't, sir," said Zabini. "Malfoy just told me about it. He's still up in the common room with Crabbe and Goyle."

"Be that as it may," continued Snape, undeterred by Zabini's comment, "I might have had anyone in here. This must not happen again. Next time, if you have something to say to me I expect that you wait outside and knock like you're supposed to. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," said Zabini restlessly.

"Now, what were you saying about werewolves?"

xxx

"The Dark Lord is planning on attacking Bracmoor," said Snape without any preamble. Dumbledore and McGonagall immediately rose to their feet.

"When?"

"They're probably already on their way."

"How do you know this?" asked McGonagall.

"Zabini just informed me," said Snape. "Potter was in the room as well. He heard that the Dark Lord was going to get the werewolves to join."

"I thought we agreed that Harry wasn't to know about Zabini."

"So did I," sighed Snape angrily. "The foolish boy didn't look before he spoke. He didn't see Potter in the room until he had already blabbed about the werewolves."

"Severus, alert the rest of the Order. Minerva, make sure Harry understands that he is not to leave Gryffindor Tower."

"Yes, because we all know how well Potter follows directions," said Snape dryly as he swept out of the room. No one bothered to contradict him.

xxx

"You're back early. I thought you had a meeting with—"

Harry didn't even realize that Ron was talking to him. He ran up the stairs and into his room. After a few moments of digging through his trunk , Harry pulled out the mirror that Lupin had fixed. Holding it up to his face, he said, "Remus Lupin."

Nothing happened. He tried again, a little louder this time.

"Remus Lupin."

He didn't even hear the door open. Nor did he see Ron, Hermione, and Neville enter the room.

"Professor Lupin!"

Harry was really starting to panic now.

"Harry..." started Hermione slowly. Harry either ignored her or didn't hear her; she wasn't sure which.

"Lupin!"

"Harry," Hermione tried a little more forcefully.

"Damn it, Remus, pick up the fucking mirror!"

"Language, Mr. Potter."

The occupants of the room swung around to see McGonagall standing in the doorway.

"Professor, Voldemort's going to try to get the werewolves to join him!"

"What?"

His friends looked alarmed; his professor looked sympathetic.

"Yes, Potter, I know. Professor Snape is alerting the Order as we speak. We are doing all we can to keep everyone safe. You are not to leave this tower. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Professor," said Harry distractedly, still looking down at the mirror in his hand. _Don't panic, _he told himself. _Lupin told you that he might not be able to answer it right away..._

So caught up in his own thoughts, he didn't hear anything else that McGonagall had to say. Since she left soon after that, he assumed that she hadn't been talking to him.

"Harry…" Hermione tried again. This time he looked up.

"What?"

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"What kind of question is that? I'm fine; Lupin's the one that's in trouble and I can reach him!"

"What is that?" asked Ron curiously, looking at the mirror that Harry had forgotten to tell them about.

"Oh, this is…something that Lupin gave me to use. If I need to speak to him I'm supposed to be able to say his name—LUPIN!—and he should answer."

"But he hasn't answered yet?" asked Neville.

"Clearly," said Harry, annoyed.

"You've been spending too much time with Snape," commented Ron. Harry ignored him. For the next hour they sat there on the floor. Harry continued to try to call Lupin. Lupin never called back.


	7. Chapters 24 to 26

**Chapter 24: Werewolves and Death Eaters**

Remus Lupin had spent the past twelve days getting to know every member of the town, each of which was very friendly. He half wished that he could forget about the Order entirely and spend the rest of his life here. But he couldn't do that, not yet. Maybe after the war, if he was still alive, he could move back here.

He loved everything about the small town. He loved the small wooden cottages that lined the streets. He loved the shops and cafes that were scattered around the town. He loved that everyone knew and cared about everyone else. He loved that they had their own potions master who brewed each member of the town their own supply of Wolfsbane—for free. He loved the invisible fence that was set up around the town to make sure that no one escaped during the full moon (he had been told that this was actually an improved version of a Muggle invention used for keeping dogs from leaving the family's yard). But most of all, he loved that no one thought any less of him for being a werewolf.

Sighing wistfully, Lupin walked around a group of kids building a house of rocks on the ground and pushed open the door of the town hall. The room was already practically full when he stepped inside. Lupin walked up to the front of the room and took his seat next to Patrick Emerson, the werewolf who had told him about Bracmoor. Tonight is the night, he told himself; the night that decides whether or not Bracmoor is willing to join the war.

A few minutes passed before everyone had taken a seat and were ready for the meeting to start. Lupin watched as Adam Fowler, Minister of Bracmoor, stood and faced the town.

"Welcome," he began. "I'm sure by now all of you have met Remus Lupin." Fowler stopped for a moment allowing everyone to clap politely and Lupin to nod in response. "Unfortunately, he's not here for pleasure. I know everyone in this room has heard that the dementors have left Azkaban."

There was some frantic muttering as the townspeople relived the shock they had felt when they had first heard the news.

"Remus," continued Fowler, "works in close association with Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You-Know-Who is building up an army. He's already just as strong as he was before he fell last time. Dumbledore's extending a hand of friendship. We need to work together in order to win this war. You-Know-Who already has an army of dementors, giants..."

As Lupin listened to the minister talk, he swore he heard someone calling his name.

"Remus Lupin."

Looking around and not seeing anyone, Lupin turned his attention back to Fowler. Then he heard it again, louder this time.

"Remus Lupin."

Several people turned around to look at him, trying to find the source of the noise. Remembering suddenly, Lupin reached into his pocket and pulled out the mirror. He saw Harry's face. Tempted as he was to answer Harry's call, Lupin knew that he had to pay attention to this meeting; this meeting was the reason that he was here. Deciding that Harry could wait, Lupin pulled out his wand and pointed it at the mirror.

"_Silencio."_

xxx

Lucius Malfoy stood starting at the scene in front of him. A wooden fence, about fifty feet in height, stood before him, shielding the town from his view. He flicked his wrist and with his wand checked the wards around the town. Realizing that there weren't any, Malfoy sneered. How much easier could this get?

"_Reducto!" _

Malfoy's spell blasted apart a large section of the wall in front of him. Several other Death Eaters did the same. Then they walked into Bracmoor. There was a good ten acres of land before the first line of wooden cottages. Not sensing enough magic to harm them, Malfoy led the rest of the Death Eaters towards the town. He hadn't walked ten feet when he collapsed in pain.

Shocks of energy shot up his body, sending of sparks of pain all the way up. The other Death Eaters that weren't clever enough to stop when they saw Malfoy fall instantly did the same. They started screaming in agony. Struggling backwards, Malfoy finally managed to get himself through whatever the hell it was that had attacked him. The others struggled through. Those that hadn't gone through the first time looked down at the field in front of them, hesitant to cross.

"What the hell was that?" snapped on the of the Death Eaters, rising to his feet.

"Something to keep the werewolves from crossing, I'd imagine," replied Malfoy, brushing dirt of his robes and turning to face the invisible barrier. Muttering a few words, he waved his wand over the area before him. Nothing happened. Narrowing his eyes, Malfoy tried a few more spells. Still nothing.

"What are you waiting for?" he sneered to the others. "Are you planning on waiting there while we do all the work? I assure you Our Lord won't be pleased when he finds that half of you didn't do anything."

Recognizing the threat in Malfoy's voice, the Death Eaters who hadn't crossed the invisible line did so. Predictably, each fell and started twitching. Malfoy found the sight a lot more enjoyable now that he wasn't the one on the ground. He watched as the Death Eaters climbed to their feet.

"You remember your orders. Capture all of the werewolves. Leave Lupin to me."

Once everyone was up, he turned and led them towards the heart of the town.

xxx

Jonathon McPherson was in the middle of building a house out of rocks. Since he was a little boy he had enjoyed playing with the rocks scattered around the town. He had even gotten his friends to join him. He was just sitting back to admire his latest masterpiece when he heard an explosion. He looked up to see the house next to his in ruins. Abandoning the rock house, Jonathon and his friends ran to look at the house and came face to face with a man in a black robe and white mask. Still in shock over what they were seeing before them, they didn't even flinch when the man raised his wand and pointed it at them.

"_Evincio funis!"_

xxx

"I still don't understand why we should join Dumbledore," put in Tawny McPherson. "Why should we make ourselves a target for no reason?"

"But you already are a target!" cried Lupin irascibly. "He's already got the giants and the dementors—"

"So what makes you think that we're next?" demanded Tawny. "He could be going after anyone."

Lupin opened his mouth to answer her but stopped, his eyes catching sight of something black moving outside the window. All of the color drained from his face as his brain realized what he was seeing.

Turning to Tawny he said, "He could be going after anybody? Why don't you take a look outside."

xxx

After a few muttered words and a flick of his wrist, Lucius Malfoy had succeeded in conjuring up an enormous cage. An enormous _silver _cage. He cast another spell that would enlarge the inside of the cage without having it take up more space (like the inside of Mr. Weasley's car). Satisfied with his work, he turned to the nearest cottage. Blasting down the door, he stepped inside and began to search the place. No one was in it. Stepping outside, he pointed his wand at the house and screamed,_ "Detonalis!"_

The house burst apart with a loud explosion. Lupin walked to the next house, blasted apart the door, and, finding no one in there, blasted apart the house as well. In the next house, however, he found two children, no older than eight, cowering in the corner of their bedroom. Apathetic to the tears and pleads of the children, Malfoy cried, _"Evincio funis!" _Ropes immediately wound their way around the children's wrists and ankles. Keeping his wand out, Malfoy none-too-gently pushed the children out of the house and into the large silver cage. Ignoring the whimpers that they gave from being in such close contact with silver, Malfoy muttered _"Detonalis!" _again. The children screamed as they watched their house explode. Malfoy proceeded to the next house after glimpsing to see how the other Death Eaters were doing.

xxx

Upon hearing Lupin's words, Tawny McPherson looked out the window in time to see a man in black robes and a white mask blow up her house. She screamed and started to run outside. Everyone else quickly followed, Lupin in the lead.

xxx

Malfoy had just blown up his third house when he saw a flood of people exit the building down the street. He smirked as he saw their panicked faces; he had been wondering why he had only been capturing children. The screaming had obviously attracted the other Death Eaters, who immediately turned to the parents instead of the children. While the Death Eaters and parents fought, Malfoy sought out Lupin. Sneaking up behind him, Malfoy cried, _"Redeo!" _

Lupin, caught off guard, was thrown backwards. Landing hard on the ground and having the wind knocked out of him, Lupin drew in a shaky breath and looked to see who had cursed him.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here," drawled a familiar voice. "And here I thought werewolves were supposed to have good fighting instincts."

Lupin glared at who he now knew was Malfoy and stood up, grasping his wand firmly. He watched suspiciously as Malfoy let him get up without hexing him. Quickly, he drew his wand and screamed, "_Soporufus_!"

Malfoy easily deflected the curse and answered with, "_Flaggaro!" _

Bright flashes of light immediately lit up the sky. Dirt went flying through the air, causing those without protective masks (aka non-Death Eaters) to pause in fighting to shield their faces and giving the Death Eaters an open opportunity to attack. Malfoy didn't miss a beat.

"_Crucio!" _

Lupin heard the curse but, due to the dirt flying into his temporarily-blinded eyes, wasn't able to duck. The curse hit and he fell to the ground, screaming in agony. Malfoy held him under the curse for a good many minutes before finally letting up. As Lupin struggled to his feet, he pointed his wand at his face and cried, "_Impervious!" _

His eyes now protected from the dirt, Lupin turned once again to face Malfoy, the only Death Eater who wasn't busy loading men, women, and children into cages.

"_Stupefy!"_

"_Impedimenta!"_

Lupin and Malfoy fought furiously. Whenever one would throw a hex the other would deflect it and throw one of their own.

"_Congelare!"_

"_Crucio!"_

They seemed to be the only two still fighting. The rest of the Death Eaters and townspeople seemed to be watching. While some in the cages were fighting, the silver surrounding them effectively lowered their powers, making a breakout nearly impossible.

"_Caligo!"_

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

"_Expelliarmus!"_

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

They were dueling so quickly that their wands were blurs, their words nearly incoherent. Neither one of them was willing to stop fighting. Neither one of them was going to give up. Neither one of them was planning to resign to ineluctable defeat. It looked as though the battle would go on forever. And then something unbelievable happened. Lupin tripped over a pile of rocks.

The mirror fell from his pocket and landed on the ground beside him.

xxx

Malfoy could hardly contain his laughter as he saw Lupin fall. Raising his wand, he cleared his throat and, before Lupin could move to defend himself, cried, "_Avada Kedavra!"_

Smiling to himself, Malfoy left Lupin on the ground and walked over to where the other Death Eaters were guarding their captives. Without a word to any of them, he bent down, picked up a rock, and muttered "_Portus!"_

Carelessly tossing the rock at the caged werewolves, Malfoy looked around in time to see at least twenty people Apparate to the front of the town and start to hurry towards them. Hearing the other Death Eaters Disapparate, Malfoy raised his wand and shouted "_Morsmordre!"_

Then Malfoy Disapparated, the Dark Mark gleaming in the sky above him.

**Chapter 25: News From Abroad**

"Harry, I'm sure Lupin's fine," soothed Hermione.

She, Ron, and Neville were seated in armchairs around the fire. Harry was pacing back and forth. He had been doing that all night. Occasionally he would stop to call Lupin through the mirror again. Wiping sweat from his brow, Harry shook off his cloak and flung it down on the ground. Ron, frustrated with the lack of news and with Harry, got up and started pacing as well. He heard the portrait hole open and continued pacing. Looking up, he saw a timid looking first year look around the room, something clutched in her hand. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, Ron looked closer at the emblem on the front of her robes. The yellow and black Hufflepuff symbol stared up at him.

"What are you doing in the Gryffindor common room?" he asked her angrily. He could see her trembling but didn't care. "Well?"

"She's here to visit me," answered a cold voice from behind him. Ron turned to find himself face to face Leslie Hyzer, a fourth year. "She's my sister."

"Why couldn't you meet somewhere else?" demanded Ron.

"I wanted to stay here. We're going to play chess. Do you mind?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I—"

"Ron."

Ron looked around to see Ginny glaring at him.

"What?" he asked her, angry at the interruption.

"Leave them alone. I know that if I wanted to hang out with you, I would be pretty pissed if some snotty prefect told me I had to go somewhere else."

Glaring at those around him, Ron pulled his sister aside. "What are you doing?" he snapped.

"I could ask you the same thing. Hermione told me what happened. You should be over there with Harry, not making trouble for first years. I know that we're supposed to be on the lookout for Hufflepuffs but I've seen this one before. Her name's Penny Hyzer. She's not a threat to anyone. Now go back over there and sit with Harry."

Glowering at his sister, Ron abruptly turned and walked back over to the others. Ginny smiled apologetically at Leslie and Penny and then took a seat next to Hermione. Harry was still pacing.

xxx

Penny Hyzer was not a very outgoing person. She was kind to those she knew but if she didn't know someone she wasn't likely to go talk to them. So it was no surprise that she didn't have many friends at Hogwarts. She made sure to stay close to her big sister whenever possible and hardly ever talked to those around her. She was lonely, to say the least.

Therefore, when she found a rat wandering around the common room one morning she was delighted. Her parents had never allowed her to have a pet of her own and she had been eager to have someone to talk to. She had walked over to the rat and gingerly held out her hand. She had giggled when the rat had crawled onto it and started to try to climb up her arms.

Now she went everywhere with the rat, whom she called Silver due to the light color of his right paw. She had made a pocket in the interior of her robes for him and carried him everywhere. She had even made a little bed on the nightstand next to hers for him to sleep in. One time she noticed, to her dismay, that he disappeared at night. After worrying that he was gone forever, she was happy to see that he returned by morning. Since then she hadn't been worried when he would wander off.

He was with her when Ron Weasley had started harassing her about being in Gryffindor tower. He had started to squirm in her pocket as she walked closer and she had had to hold him in her hand to get him to stop.

She smiled gratefully when Ginny, whom she had seen on several occasions around the castle, told Ron to leave her alone. Silver seemed to settle down after Weasley left. Penny smiled; it seemed that Silver could sense her discomfort and was wouldn't be content until she was.

Oblivious to the real reason why her rat was suddenly calm, Penny sat down at the nearest table and helped her sister set up the chess set. Taking off her robe and carefully laying it down on the chair next to her, she didn't notice Silver slip out of the pocket. Never noticed as he made his way over to the fireplace where Harry was still pacing. Never noticed as he crawled inconspicuously into the nearest pocket of Harry's robe, which was still discarded on the floor.

Instead, Penny Hyzer watched as her sister's knight took out one of her pawns.

xxx

Harry's scar hurt. It wasn't a full-out burning pain yet, just a dull throbbing. Feeling slightly nauseous, Harry kept pacing, much to Hermione's annoyance.

"Harry, you're going to frighten the children."

Harry was just about to retort when his scar exploded with pain. Ecstatic laughter filled the air. Harry had never been happier than he was at that moment...something great, no, something wonderful had happened...

Everyone in the common room turned to stare in wonder and fear as Harry burst into hysterical laughter. Ron, who had had experience in this area before, slapped Harry hard across the face while yelling at Hermione to get something for Harry to vomit in. Ginny and Neville shooed everyone else away from Harry and out of the common room.

Sure enough, as soon as Harry had stopped laughing he grasped the bowl Hermione had conjured and threw up everything he had eaten that day. After several moments he stopped vomiting and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He was pale and shaking. He looked up to see the others staring at him. Then he looked back down, unable to look them in the eyes anymore. Then he said, in a small voice, "Lupin's dead."

"What?" asked Hermione in a voice just as shaky as Harry's. "Harry, you can't possibly know—"

"Trust me, he's dead!" Harry snapped, unable to stop the tears from welling in his eyes. Blinking them furiously away, he stood up. He was still shaking. Even though he was standing in front of the fire, Harry felt cold. Hermione, seeming to sense this, reached down, grabbed Harry's discarded cloak, and draped it over his shoulders. Harry numbly pulled it on the rest of the way.

At that moment Professor McGonagall arrived in the room. One look told her that they already knew what happened. She told them to follow her. Silently the group followed her up to Dumbledore's office. Harry was so numb he didn't feel the slight movement in the inner pocket of his cloak. Moody, Snape, and Tonks were gathered in the office.

"I'm afraid I have some rather bad news," said Dumbledore somberly. "As I'm sure you know, there was an attack on Bracmoor not too long ago. The entire werewolf community was taken prisoner."

Hermione gasped. Ron and Ginny looked shocked. Neville's eyes, widened in alarm, were the only indication that he had even heard the headmaster. Harry, however, appeared not to be listening.

"Even Professor Lupin?" asked Hermione, still not willing to believe that he was dead.

"I'm afraid that he didn't make it," said Dumbledore, his sad eyes fixed on Harry's face. "The Order arrived in time to see them Disapparate. Half the town was destroyed. There were no survivors. This, however, was found right next to Remus's body..."

Harry wasn't listening. He hadn't been since he arrived. What was the point? He knew that Lupin was dead. He didn't look up until he heard Ron gasp and felt Hermione stiffen next to him. Raising his head, Harry gasped. Dumbledore was holding up the mirror that Lupin had been using to talk to Harry.

"Where did you get that?" asked Harry. Snape scoffed as Harry made clear the fact that he hadn't been listening. Dumbledore, however, answered anyway.

"This was found next to Remus. It seemed to have fallen off."

That was the last straw for Harry. Without a word to anyone, Harry turned and ran out of the office. Dumbledore let him leave.

**Chapter 26: Anger Management**

Harry ran. He didn't even know where his feet were taking him. All he knew was that he had to get out of that room. Away from Dumbledore. Away from that mirror. Before he knew it he found himself outside the Room of Requirement. Without thinking, Harry threw open the door and ran inside. He was shaking with uncontrollable anger. He needed some way to get rid of some of that anger.

Suddenly a large picture of Voldemort appeared on the wall. There were big red circles all over his face. A table appeared next to Harry with sharp needle looking things attached to a piece of plastic. Darts!

Harry grabbed a dart and threw it as hard as he could at Voldemort's picture. He was so angry that he missed by several feet. He tried again. Missed. Again. Missed. Again and again he threw the darts (which never seemed to run out) at Voldemort's head. And again and again he missed. Pulling off his cloak in frustration, Harry threw it to the floor, grabbed a handful of darts and threw them all at the photo on the wall. They all landed on a pile on the floor.

With a shaky breath, Harry collapsed against the wall. It was too much, too much to handle. He was finally starting to get over Sirius's death. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't he have gotten a hold of Lupin in time? Why hadn't he warned him when he last saw him in Grimmauld Place?

Without his realization, Harry's magic began to swell up inside him. The more he thought about what had just happened the angrier he got and the more it swelled. Finally, as he reached forward and threw one last dart at the wall, his magic got out of control. A burst of energy shot through the room, causing the walls to shake darts to rattle. The dart board of Voldemort's face fell off with a loud thud and landed right next to his cloak.

Shocked at the amount of magic that had just been unleashed, Harry bent down to pick up the dart board. Then he noticed a lump in his cloak. Surprised, he dropped the dart board again and picked up his cloak. Underneath it, apparently knocked out by his magic, was a rat. A rat with a silver paw.

Harry gasped and backed away from the rat. His breathing shallow, Harry took a deep breath and drew out his wand. Pointing it shakily at the rat on the floor and silently thanking Snape, he muttered, "_Veneficus Exhibeo!" _

Then he gasped at the two words that he saw glittering in front of him.

_Peter Pettigrew. _

xxx

Harry stared at the name in amazement. Even though he had suspected it, the shock at actually seeing the words was too much. Casting a spell to secure the doors and making sure that Pettigrew wouldn't be able to transform, Harry cast the spell that Snape had taught him just last week to force an Animagus to show his true form.

As Harry watched the rat transform into a person, he became more and more angry. The anger that he had previously felt, the anger that had knocked the rat out in the first place, paled in comparison to what he was feeling now. Once the rat was once again a human Harry pointed his wand at him and mumbled, "_Ennervate."_

He saw Pettigrew open his eyes, see Harry, and instantly try to run to the door. Harry jumps in front of him.

"Oh I don't think so."

Pettigrew flinched at the coldness in Harry's voice.

"H-Harry...Harry...forgive me..." He stammered, dropping to his knees before Harry.

"Fuck you!" shouted Harry in his coldest voice. "How dare you ask for forgiveness. What did Remus ever do to you? Or how about Sirius?"

Harry kicked Pettigrew hard in the stomach. The rat dropped even lower on the ground, doubled over in pain. Harry didn't care.

"Or what about my dad? What did he do to deserve death?"

Harry kicked Pettigrew again, harder this time.

"Or my mum? What deemed her eligible for your death list, huh?"

He kicked him again.

"What the fuck did ANY OF THEM EVER DO TO YOU!" bellowed Harry, kicking Pettigrew repeatedly as hard as he could. He wasn't even aware of the tears that had started to slide down his face. All he could think about was his anger at Pettigrew. His anger at himself for saving the worthless bastard. Before he could register what happened he collapsed on the ground next to Pettigrew, his energy spent. He sobbed quietly for a few moments. He wasn't paying attention to the man next to him anymore. Fortunately, the man wouldn't have been able to move anyway. He, too, was too weak to move, though his weakness was solely of the physical nature.

Time passed without Harry's knowledge. As his sobbing turned to sniffles, he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"Harry?"

It was Hermione. But where was her voice coming from? Looking around the room, Harry saw no one but Pettigrew. Quickly stunning the weak man on the floor, Harry continued his search for the voice. A moment later, he realized it was coming from his cloak.

Crawling over to his cloak, Harry fished through the pockets until he found his mirror. The mirror that had failed to reach Lupin in time. Hermione's face stared back at him as he looked into it.

"Harry?" she asked again.

"W-what?" he asked tiredly.

"Where are you? You just ran off. We were worried about you."

"Where are you?" he asked her, ignoring her question.

"We're still in the headmaster's office," she said, clearly distressed. "Now where are you?"

"The Room of Requirement," he said. "Tell the headmaster to get over here as quickly as possible."

"What is it, Harry?" asked Dumbledore. He seemed to have taken the mirror from Hermione.

"Pettigrew's here."

Harry heard the gasps from the other side of the mirror.

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

The mirror went blank.


	8. Chapters 27 to 28

**Chapter 27: Decisions**

Soon after Harry talked to Dumbledore, the door to the Room of Requirement burst open and Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Moody, Tonks, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville entered the room, which seemed to get bigger as more people went in. They found Harry sitting on the floor, the unconscious body of Peter Pettigrew beside him.

Dumbledore stepped forward to get a closer look at Pettigrew. Harry saw him cast several spells. Apparently satisfied, Dumbledore stepped back and turned to Moody.

"Alastor, I'm going to need you to go to the ministry. We need Fudge here."

Harry opened his mouth to protest but Dumbledore held up a hand to stop him.

"Harry, I know you don't trust the man but in matters like these, we need the minister."

Harry shut his mouth and stared glumly at the floor. Moody left the room and Dumbledore turned to Snape.

"Severus, I'm going to need you to get the strongest truth serum that you possess and meet us back here."

Snape nodded curtly and swept out of the room.

_We need chairs in here, _thought Ginny. Immediately seven chairs popped up in the room. Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Neville took their seats. Tonks followed suit. Harry remained on the ground.

"Harry?" asked Dumbledore gently. When Harry didn't answer he tried a little louder. "Harry?"

That time Harry looked up. He didn't speak but there was a questioning look in his eyes.

"Why don't you sit down," the headmaster suggested. Harry shook his head. "I think you should sit down." There was a slight firmness in his voice that let Harry know that he really had no choice in the matter. Sighing, he lifted himself up and plopped into the nearest chair.

"Thank you," said Dumbledore. Harry ignored him.

Ten minutes later the door opened and Snape stepped into the room. Another chair immediately sprang up between Harry's and Dumbledore's. Snape stared at the chair for a moment before sitting down. Then he looked down at Pettigrew, who's breathing was starting to come out in wheezing gasps.

"The stunning hex is coming off," he said. Everyone in the room looked down at the man on the floor. Snape's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He stood up and rolled the body over. After looking over it he turned back to Dumbledore.

"There is some extreme bruising on this upper body. One of his ribs is broken. Do you have any idea how this came to be about?" Snape looked at Harry as he spoke that last question. So did everyone else. Harry looked down at the ground.

"Seems someone still hasn't learned to control his anger," Snape said callously.

"Severus." There was a slight warning in Dumbledore's voice. Harry continued to stare down at Pettigrew. Anger was starting to raise in him again. He couldn't stay in this room. The walls were beginning to close in around him. Finally having had enough, he stood up and pushed his chair out of his way.

"Harry, where are you going?" asked Dumbledore, the warning still present in his voice.

"You're a bloody liar!" Harry snapped at him, turning to leave again.

"What did I lie about?" asked the headmaster.

"You said that the time would come when I was glad that I saved Pettigrew's life. When exactly is that going to be?"

Without waiting for an answer, Harry spun around and stormed over to the door. He was about to open in when it flung open for the third time that night and hit him square in the head. Cursing, Harry stumbled backwards, clutching his head. Moody and Fudge stepped into the room.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to loiter on the other side of a door, Potter?" asked Moody gruffly. Harry glared at him, certain that Moody had done that intentionally to keep him from leaving. Surely his eye would have shown him that Harry was on the other side of the door.

"What is so important that you deemed it necessary to drag me away from my meeting?" asked Fudge. The way he talked made Harry sure that there had been no meeting.

"Forgive me for interrupting," said Dumbledore, his eyes boring into Fudge's. "I was under the belief that when supposedly dead Death Eaters show up at Hogwarts you were to be informed."

"'Supposedly dead Death Eaters'?" repeated Fudge, confused. Seeing Pettigrew on the floor he immediately jumped backwards and stared down at the man.

"Well I'll be...that's Peter Pettigrew!" he gasped. "B-but, but he's dead!"

"Clearly he isn't," snarled Harry, not in the mood to deal with Fudge. He met Dumbledore's disapproving eyes and stared down at the floor again.

"Severus has brought along with him his strongest truth serum," continued Dumbledore. "If you would like to question him..."

"Of course I would like to question him!" snapped Fudge. He cast an eye over Harry and his friends. "At the ministry, where we can use our own truth serum and ask our questions without the students' interfering," he added.

"I'm sure they won't be in the way," stated Dumbledore calmly. "And seeing as how Harry here was the one who discovered Mr. Pettigrew, it's only fitting that he should get to witness the questioning, is it not?"

Glowering at the headmaster, Fudge said, in a tight voice, "Of course. The others can wait outside."

"That sounds perfectly reasonable," said the headmaster cheerfully, stemming the protests that were sure to follow. "Ms. Granger, if you and your friends would kindly wait outside...I'm sure Harry will let you know when it's over."

"I want to go with them," said Harry. After everything that had happened that night, all he wanted to do was go to sleep.

"I would prefer if you'd stay here, Harry."

Harry hated the way that Dumbledore could ask someone to do something in a way that left no room for opposition. Glumly, Harry sat in his chair while his friends exited the room. Meanwhile, Moody muttered a few words. Instantly a quill and some parchment appeared. Harry could hear Fudge talking and could see the quill writing on its own, but he couldn't make out what either of them were about. He watched as Snape spelled Pettigrew into a chair. As soon as he was seated chains sprang up, securing him to the chair. Opening the other man's mouth, Snape placed three drops of Veritaserum his tongue. He stepped aside and Fudge took his place, pointing his wand at Pettigrew and muttering, "_Ennervate."_

Pettigrew's eyes opened. He blinked a few times, and Harry could see that his eyes were out of focus, like he wasn't really seeing anything at all. Then Dumbledore started talking.

"What is your name?"

"Peter Lawrence Pettigrew." His voice sounded a million miles away, like he didn't even know what he was answering.

"What is your age?"

"Thirty-seven."

"Where did you attend school?"

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Did Lily and James Potter name you their secret keeper when they first discovered that Lord Voldemort was after them?"

"No."

"Who was?"

"Sirius Black." Harry scowled as Fudge began to look triumphant.

"When did they name you secret keeper?"

"A week before they died." Fudge's smile slipped.

"Why did they change from Mr. Black to you?"

"Sirius told them it was a good idea."

"Why did he feel it would be a good idea?"

" He said that everyone knew that he was their best friend, so everyone would suspect it was him. No one would ever suspect that I would be their secret keeper."

"And did you keep their secret?"

"No." Any trace of a smile had vanished from Fudge's face.

"Whom did you tell?"

"My master."

"And who is your master?"

"The Dark Lord."

Fudge seemed to grow impatient with Dumbledore's line of questioning. Cutting the headmaster off, he began to ask instead.

"How did you survive your encounter with Sirius Black?"

Pettigrew opened his mouth as if to answer. Then he started to squirm.

"What's going on?" demanded Fudge, turning to Dumbledore. "I thought one wasn't able to fight this serum!"

"He's not fighting it. You have to be more specific with your questioning," explained Dumbledore with little patience. "He has had two encounters with Sirius Black since the night at Godric's Hollow."

"How did you survive your first encounter with Sirius Black?"

"I transfigured into a rat and escaped down the nearest sewer."

Fudge was dumbfounded. "You're an Animagus?"

"Yes."

"What's your form?" Harry didn't bother to resist rolling his eyes.

"A rat."

Fudge seemed to realize how stupid his question had been. Turning a slight shade of pink, he resumed questioning.

"How long have you been an Animagus?"

"Since sixth year."

"Are you registered?"

"No."

"Once you had escaped, where did you go?"

"I lived as a pet to a wizarding family."

"What family?"

"The Weasleys."

Fudge looked up at Dumbledore, who nodded. Fudge glanced at Harry before turning back to the drugged man.

"How long did you live with them?"

"Twelve years."

"When did you stop?"

"When Sirius found me."

"When was this?"

"Almost three years ago."

"How did you escape that time?"

"Harry Potter saved me."

Harry looked down at his clasped hands, refusing to meet the eyes of Fudge, Moody, Tonks, or McGonagall, all of whom were looking at him in surprise. Snape, though Harry couldn't see, was giving him a hard look, the only indication that he had heard anything strange.

"How did he save you?"

"He stopped Remus and Sirius from killing me."

"Why did he do that?"

"He said that he didn't think James would want them to become killers."

"Did you two work out some sort of an agreement?"

"Yes."

"What was it?"

"I was supposed to take Sirius's place in Azkaban. If I transformed, Sirius and Remus had Potter's permission to kill me."

"So how did you escape?"

"I transformed."

"Where did you go then?"

"Little Hangleton."

"What was there?"

"My master."

"The Dark Lord?"

"Yes."

"So you brought him back?"

"Partly."

"What do you mean?"

"I gave him my hand."

"Your hand?"

"Yes."

"Why your hand?"

"He needed 'the flesh of a servant.'"

"What else did he need?"

"'Bone of a father' and 'blood of an enemy.'"

"Whose blood did he use?"

"Harry Potter's."

"How did he get Harry Potter's blood?"

"He positioned one of his faithful Death Eaters at Hogwarts with the instructions to place Potter's name into the Goblet of Fire."

"And who was that Death Eater?"

"Bartemius Crouch, Jr."

Fudge paused in his line of questioning again. Whatever blush that had marred his cheeks before was gone; he was now a pasty white. Harry sneered. Apparently finding out that Harry had been telling the truth all this time was too much for the minister.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm following my master's orders."

"And what were his orders?"

"To spy on the students."

"How did you manage to do that?"

"I became a pet to one of the Hufflepuff students."

_Hufflepuff..._suddenly Snape's earlier warning about Hufflepuffs made a lot more sense. Daring a glance at Snape, Harry saw a slight look of realization flicker over his potion's professor's face.

"Which student?"

"Penny Hyzer."

Harry closed his eyes. That had been the girl that Ron was yelling at earlier that night. He was yelling at her for being in their common room. _Well, _thought Harry, _at least that explains how he got into my robes. _

Feeling slightly dizzy and quite a bit lethargic, Harry didn't pay attention to the rest of the questioning. He picked up on enough to understand that his assumptions that Pettigrew snuck into his robes were correct. He looked up only when he heard Moody stun Pettigrew. Fudge leaned back and frowned, apparently deep in thought.

"It looks as if Sirius Black wasn't guilty after all," he stated. He didn't sound the least bit apologetic. On the contrary, he sounded as if he were merely stating that the sun hadn't come up as soon as he had expected.

"Oh, don't worry; that's all right," sneered Harry sarcastically. "I'm sure Azkaban wasn't too terrible for him."

Dumbledore didn't even bother to admonish him. Fudge looked affronted. Glaring at Harry, he was about to say something when Dumbledore cut him off.

"Well, this does leave us with an interesting predicament, doesn't it?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean." Fudge's tone told Harry that the older man knew exactly what Dumbledore meant. Dumbledore knew that, too, though he still answered the unspoken question.

"Well, now that Sirius Black's dead" (Harry flinched slightly at the flippant way that headmaster spoke) "giving him his life back is going to be slightly difficult, is it not? And then there's the question as to what will be done with Mr. Pettigrew."

"What do you mean, 'what will be done with' him?" demanded Fudge. "He'll go to Azkaban."

"There aren't even dementors there any more!" protested Harry. "And even if they were, we all know that Voldemort could get him out of there anyway. I mean, he's done it three times now."

"I'm afraid Harry's right, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, cutting in before Fudge could retort to Harry's comment. "As the dementors are no longer there, all you'll be doing is sending him to sit in a room until Voldemort comes to collect him."

"And what would you have me do?" snarled Fudge.

"Kill him."

Fudge stared at him. So did Harry. So did everyone else in the room, for that matter.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I meant just what I said," stated Dumbledore. "You heard him. He and Harry had an agreement. If Pettigrew transformed, Harry agreed that he should be killed. Since Pettigrew transformed, he has every right to be killed."

"What difference does it make if Potter agreed to it?" snapped Fudge. "We all agreed that Potter should be expelled last year, and yet you didn't see that happen, did you?"

"That's because the right to expel students does not belong to the Minister of Magic," said Dumbledore calmly.

"And the right to decide who dies does not belong to the Boy-Who-Lived," countered Fudge.

"Under normal circumstances, you would be correct, Cornelius. However, I'm afraid that in this case, Mr. Pettigrew's fate does rest in Harry's hands."

"What makes you so sure?" asked Fudge, his eyes narrowed into little slits. Harry was looking at Dumbledore, too, sure that the old man had finally lost his mind. That belief was strengthened ten-fold when the headmaster chuckled quietly.

"You heard him as well as I, Cornelius. Harry saved Pettigrew's life. And you know as well as I do that when one wizard saves another wizard, a certain bond is forged between them."

A look of dawning took over Fudge's face, a look that quickly turned into one of disbelief.

"Their agreement, though not written down as most are, still stands. I believe Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were to be the ones to kill him if he transformed?"

Harry nodded numbly. Dumbledore continued.

"I'm afraid that neither one of these men is able to follow through on that now. Law states then, that Harry is to decide an alternative plan for us to follow," said Dumbledore, turning to look at Harry as he spoke. "So Harry, what do you propose we do?"

Harry took one look around everyone in the room before bolting as fast as he could out of the room.

**Chapter 28: Payment of Debt**

Harry stood, staring down at he headstones in front of him.

_Remus J. Lupin_

"_Moony" _

_1959-1996_

_A kind and caring friend _

_who stood up for his rights_

_and those around him._

_Sirius R. Black_

"_Padfoot"_

_1959-1995_

_A loyal and honorable_

_friend until the very end. _

_Marauders for life. _

The Order decided that, even though they didn't have his body, Sirius deserved a headstone as well. It was placed right next to Lupin's. Harry ran his hand silently along the top of Sirius's and then moved and did the same to Lupin's.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that Sirius finally had his name cleared, and he wasn't there to enjoy it. It wasn't fair that Remus finally had a place where he could fit in, and the town wasn't there to accept him. It wasn't fair that Pettigrew had finally been caught and neither one of the people he had hurt the most was able to see it.

Harry had spent the better part of three days deciding what he was going to do to Pettigrew. As angry as he was, Harry still didn't like the thought that this man's fate rested in his hands. Harry had to keep reminding himself whose death it was that he was planning. He wanted something that would make him feel vindicated in some way. When he had finally come up with a plan, he ran it past his friends. Hermione looked startled. Neville looked understanding. Ron suggested poison instead. Ginny hit Ron and told Harry that he had to do what he felt was best.

That was why Harry found himself, two days later, back in the Department of Mysteries. He was standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at the veil that Sirius had fallen through just one year ago. He had never expected to be back here, let alone ask to be brought back here, but things changed. Seeing Pettigrew fall through the veil was even more painful than Harry had thought it would be, but it was something he had to do. For Sirius. For Remus.

After that, they left the Department of Mysteries and headed toward the funeral. It had been a very difficult service for Harry to attend, especially when Sirius's tombstone was added. He was just glad that Dumbledore hadn't forced him to say something. He didn't think he would have been able to say a word.

A lot of people had shown up. Harry was glad of that. Almost the entire Order was there, as well as a few of Lupin and Sirius's old school friends. Harry was surprised to see Angelina Johnson there. Fred informed him that she had joined after she spent the better part of three months trying to guess where he and George kept disappearing to.

After the service, everyone seemed to split into groups. Harry, not in the mood for small talk, walked over to stand in front of the graves. Self-loathing thoughts seeped into his mind. Zabini hadn't found out about the attack until it was too late to do anything . Had the Order had a real spy in there, they would have known about the attack and been able to stop it from happening. If Snape hadn't given up his position to save Harry, an entire werewolf community wouldn't have been taken prisoner. Lupin wouldn't have died.

"Drowning in self-pity, Potter?"

Harry whirled around to find Snape right behind him. Looking deep into the older man's eyes, Harry was surprised to find that there wasn't nearly as much hatred present as there usually was.

"What do you care?" asked Harry coldly, turning back to look at the graves. "I suppose this is your greatest wish come true, is it? All the Marauders are dead, and you can't be blamed for a single one of their deaths."

_Though I can, _thought Harry miserably.

"Potter, I'm going to let you in on a little secret," said Snape, stepping forward to stand right next to Harry. "The whole world does not revolve around you."

"What are you talking about?" snapped Harry. "I wasn't talking about me."

"You were thinking about you!" retorted Snape. "You need to get your mind under control, especially during times like this when you are your most vulnerable. This would be the opportune moment for the Dark Lord to attack you."

"Of course this would be the opportune moment for the Dark Lord to attack me!" countered Harry angrily. "The entire bloody Order of the Phoenix is here. All he'd have to do is get a bomb and a small plane and he could kill every single one of us!"

"What in Merlin's name are you blabbering on about?" asked Snape, a curious glint in his eye.

"Never mind," sighed Harry. His anger left as quickly as it had come, leaving him exhausted.

"Keep your mind clear," warned Snape, turning to walk away. "It's a shame that after all that time, Lupin couldn't teach you any better than I could."

Harry narrowed his eyes, silently fuming. This was a funeral, damn it! What ever happened to showing the dead a little respect? Then again, this was Snape he was talking about. Since when did the man ever show anyone any respect? Sighing, Harry walked over to where Ron and the others were standing. He needed something to keep his mind off where he was.

xxx

The last month passed in a daze. Harry dreaded going to Defense Against the Dark Arts, as he knew that Lupin wasn't going to be teaching. He dreaded going to Transfiguration, as he knew that McGonagall was going to be giving him sympathetic looks the entire time. Surprisingly, he didn't dread going to Potions, as he knew that Snape was going to be treating him exactly as he had before. And they still had their weekly sessions in Snape's office. Snape seemed to be determined to pretend that nothing had happened.

_Although_, figured Harry as he worked on his essay, _perhaps Snape doesn't think that anything big did happen. _

Sighing, Harry finished up his essay, leaned back in his chair, and looked around the empty common room. It was the last Hogsmeade weekend of the year. While Dumbledore still didn't feel that the streets were safe, he did feel that the children needed a break from their school work. At first Harry though that this trip to Hogsmeade had been a set up by Dumbledore to get him out of the castle. Then McGonagall held him back from class and requested that he stay on the grounds. After being assured that Harry would be all right on his own, Ron and the others left.

Harry really needed something to do. He had finished all of his homework; Ron and Hermione were gone; he had nothing to do. He walked up to his dorm, figuring he'd grab a book to read. While he was digging through his trunk for a book, though, he caught sight his Firebolt.

Memories instantly came flooding back to him..._a magnificent, gleaming broomstick rolled out onto his bed..."I daresay Madam Hooch and Professor Flitwick will strip it down—"...You've got a very good friend somewhere, Potter..." the Firebolt was passed around and admired from every angle...it seemed to obey his thoughts rather than his grip...It was I who sent you the Firebolt..._

Making up his mind, Harry grabbed his broom and took off toward the Quidditch pitch.

xxx

He hadn't ridden his broom since that last game with Malfoy. He had been so caught up in everything that was going on, Quidditch just didn't seem to matter to him. And it still didn't matter to him. But flying had always been something he enjoyed, something he could do without thinking. Hence his decision to go flying. He thought he would be able to clear his mind.

As soon as he kicked his feet off the ground and felt the wind against his face, Harry instantly felt at home. This was where he belonged. No snitches, no players, no fans depending on him to win the game. Just him, his broom, and the wind.

He had been flying for a few hours when he saw some of the students start heading back up to the castle. The Hogsmeade visit was apparently over. Harry flew lower over the field so that the returning students wouldn't see him. As his toes skimmed the grass, Harry looked up. From where he was, the Whomping Willow could barely be seen over the tops of the nearest trees. Harry sighed as his thoughts automatically turned to Lupin.

As guilt filled Harry's thoughts again, he was reminded of something he had heard a long time ago, something one of his Muggle teachers had told him when he was a little boy.

_Everyone deserves happiness._

Harry snorted. That teacher had been one of the few (if not the only) teachers who seemed to sense that something wasn't quite "normal" with the Dursleys. She had been the only one to ever take his side when Dudley had beat him up on school property and gotten away with it. That teacher had sat Harry down and told him that what Dudley was doing wasn't right. She had told him that he deserved happiness, and that some day, when he was older and away from the Dursleys, he would find it. That teacher was stupid.

Here he was, almost nine years older and away from the Dursleys. He didn't have happiness, and he damn well knew that he didn't deserve it. Casting one last look up at the Whomping Willow, Harry thought about everything that had happened while he was at Hogwarts...

First year, he had been attacked by a twelve-foot high mountain troll, a three-headed dog, an evil Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and Voldemort.

Second year, he crashed a flying car into the Whomping Willow. He had stopped a fellow classmate from a giant snake and then been ostracized for being a parselmouth. He had been attacked by giant spiders and managed to clear Hagrid's name, all before killing an ancient basilisk and accomplishing something wizards had been trying to do for decades and not been able to do: locate the Chamber of Secrets.

Third year, he had found out the truth about his parents and Sirius Black. He learned how to fight the dementors and then managed to save himself from having his soul sucked out of him. He managed to save two innocent lives and send one guilty one back to Voldemort.

Fourth year, he had battled his way through fighting a giant dragon, finding a date for (and surviving) the Yule Ball, rescuing two people from the bottom of a lake, and forcing his way through a giant maze. He witnessed Voldemort's return and managed to survive.

Fifth year, he had been attacked by dementors blocks from his own house. He had been expelled from, suspended from, and eventually readmitted to Hogwarts. He had spent the year trying to convince most of the world that he was not an attention-seeking, raving lunatic while also trying to figure out what Dumbledore wasn't telling him about. He had fought centaurs, Death Eaters, Voldemort, and his own conscience before returning to yet another infuriating summer at Privet drive.

Sixth year, he had been hit with a curse that he had never even heard of before and forced to watch the worst moments of his life over and over again. He had been awarded Order of Merlin, third class, and then thrown the award back in Fudge's face. He had been named Hogwarts' best dueler and then outsmarted by a bunch of Death Eaters and tortured to within an inch of his life. He ousted the best spy the Order had and then been taught by said spy how to survive.

He had watched friends and family be hurt and killed. He had been humiliated and comforted. He had felt alone and gregarious. His life at Hogwarts had been filled with so many ups and downs during his six year stay.

He couldn't wait to see what would happen during his next, and final, year at Hogwarts.

_fin_


End file.
